John Doe
by LadyRaider
Summary: Epilogue up! General O’Neill suffers from a concussion due to a blow to the head, which causes amnesia. He doesn’t remember who he is or anything about himself, will help from somebody cough Sam cough bring back his memory?
1. Chapter One

Title: John Doe

Summary: General O'Neill suffers from a concussion due to a blow to the head, which causes amnesia. He doesn't remember who he is or anything about himself, will help from somebody (cough Sam cough) bring back his memory?

Disclaimer: Oh, come on...we all know that they're not mine. Must we go through this song and dance

every single time?

A/n: I don't remember the doctor's name from the beginning of the season...so I'm making one up.

* * *

He woke up with what felt like the worst hangover anybody could ever have. The kind that only comes after you've been drinking for a day or even days straight. He felt awful, his head was pounding, and he was sure that he couldn't move his right arm. He looked down at it, sure enough it was in a sling. Sighing to himself he tried to sit up, he didn't even make it halfway before falling back onto the bed he was in. Groaning he tried again...and again failed miserably. What had happened to him? "General O'Neill?" A voice called from near the bed. He didn't answer, and something occurred to him. What was his name? He hadn't thought of it, his first thoughts when he woke were of the splitting headache that wouldn't go away. He had no clue what his name was. 

"General? Are you awake?" The voice called out again. It was female that was for sure. It seemed to him the voice got a bit panicky after whoever she was looking for didn't answer.

Something else occurred to him. _Is she talking to me? Am I General O'Neill?_ He looked over towards the source of the panicked voice, a tall blonde stood at the foot of his bed, her hands gripping the railing tightly. She furrowed her eyebrows at the confused look on his face.

"Sir? Are you ok?"

"Who..." he paused, his throat was on fire...he must have had a tube down it. "Who are you?" He forced out, despite the pain it caused. 

She drew her head back quickly, as if confused. "Sir?"  
  
"Why...are you calling me 'sir'?"  
  
She cocked her head to one side, her mouth dropped open just a little. She blinked a couple of times before closing her mouth again, then spoke. "I'll go get the doctor." She seemed hesitant to leave, but walked away, nearly sprinting. She glanced back at him once, a look on her face that told him he'd better not be joking or she'd kick his ass. He wasn't sure WHO she was, but he was sure she would.

A few moments later she came back with a shorter woman, dark brown hair pulled back into a bun, brown eyes wide and focused on him. "General O'Neill...how are you feeling?"  
  
"Who's General O'Neill?" He asked, his throat finally starting to stop burning.

The blonde seemed upset, "you are." She said her voice thick with emotion.

"Really?"

"Sir, if this is a joke it's a bad one." Her eyes narrowed on him, challenging him.

"I'm not joking...where am I?" He looked around the room to see if he could place anything, but all that he could see was a white sheet pulled around the bed, he figured he was in some sort of hospital. How was it he could remember something like a hospital, but not his own name? What had happened to him?

The two women exchanged worried looks. It seemed a million words passed between them without them speaking at all. In the end the blonde shook her head, and the doctor (he assumed) looked back at him.

"Tell me what you can remember?" The doctor asked.

"Uhh...everything except for the things that count."

The blonde spoke again, "like what?"  
  
"It's 2004...I'm an American, this is some sort of hospital, something happened to me, and I have the worst headache ever."

The blonde inhaled deeply, "nothing about who you are and where you're from?"  
  
He searched his brain, "I vaguely remember something about Minnesota."

Both women sighed simultaneously, he could tell he had let them down in some way, though he had no clue how. He didn't even know their names or how well he knew them. It seemed to him that he knew the blonde better than he knew the brunette. She seemed to be having a harder time with the whole ordeal than the other was...then again he could be wrong. He could not know either of them well...he could know both of them the same.

The doctor whispered something to the blonde, who shut her eyes with what looked like frustration. She sighed to herself and nodded at whatever it was the doctor was saying. When the shorter woman left the blonde walked around from the foot of the bed to the side of the bed. She pulled up a metal chair and sat in it. She leaned her head forward into the palms of her hands and then ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. She sighed again, and rubbed her temples.

"You have to remember something about who you are...sir." The sir was added as a sort of afterthought, as if she had to remind herself to do so. 

"I'm sorry," he saw disappointment pass though her eyes, "I wish I could remember something...really, I do. I...what happened to me?"

"You suffered a concussion caused by a blow to the head."  
  
"What the hell from?"

She shook her head solemnly, "that doesn't matter." 

He heard footfall coming towards them and apparently she did too, she turned around and when she saw who the footsteps belonged to stood up and pulled him away from the bed. They spoke quietly, and after awhile a grave expression washed over his face. He kept glancing from her to him, him to her, sort of like he didn't believe whatever it was she was telling him. The last time he looked away she grabbed his arm and he turned back around.

They had words for another minute or so, then they parted ways. The man came over to the bed and the woman walked out of the room in a hurry. He briefly wondered where she was going and even briefer still wished she would come back. He didn't know why, he was just drawn to her. There was something in her eyes that told him she was special...something that was different. From what, from whom, he didn't know.

The man sat in the chair that the woman had occupied. He was fairly built, brown hair, and blue eyes that were covered by glasses. The women probably went crazy over him. It wasn't until then he wondered what he looked like, he couldn't remember that either.

"Jack?" The man asked bringing him out of his gaze.  
  
"I'm sorry...who?"

He drew his head back in a fashion that was similar to the way the blonde woman had only moments before. "You...Jack what's going on? Is this some sort of sick joke?"  
  
"You're the second person to ask me that. No...this isn't a joke. Do I do that? Make bad jokes?" "No...not this kind."

He pondered that answer. "So...I'm Jack...what's your name?"  
  
"Daniel," he squinted at him, "you sure you're not playing a joke?"

"No. Daniel, I'm not. Who was that woman?"  
  
"The one who just left? That was Sam."

"Short for Samantha."  
  
"You remember?"  
  
"No...it just makes sense. Where are we? What's going on? What happened to me?"  
  
"You're suffering from a concussion...and what I'm assuming is memory loss. Amnesia." 

"Great," he said sarcastically. "Hey...what color are my eyes?"

The man...Daniel furrowed his eyebrows, "you really don't remember anything do you?"

"Why does everybody keep asking me that? Of course I don't. And if I'm the kind of person who plays cruel jokes like that, I must not have very many friends. Daniel...right? As you can imagine, I'm confused as hell. I don't know who I am, where I'm from, what happened to me, anything about my life. You think you could fill me in, just a little?"

Daniel sighed, "this might take awhile..."

* * *

a/n: so...tell me what you think. It's in the new season, and sorry...but at this point in time Sam's engaged to Pete...don't start sending flames just yet, it'll change (I think). So...no tomatoes...no rocks...nothing heavy to throw at me...got it?  
The title has to do with the fact that when people suffer from amnesia and don't remember their names, or for whatever reason they can't remember their names, for males they put the name down as John Doe, for females it's Jane Doe. 


	2. Chapter Two

Title: John Doe

Summary: Daniel explains to Jack who he is while Sam tries frantically to get in touch with allies.

A/N: Ok, so I'm not sure if the Tok'ra are talking to us again or not, but if they aren't then in my story they are, because that's how I think it should be. And, I know, I know, everybody hates Pete (at least, they should) but don't start throwing things just yet, he probably won't stay long. Trust me, I'm a shipper.

* * *

"Hold up...go back just a second. I'm the CO of WHAT?"  
  
"Stargate Command, otherwise known as the SGC. The first line of defense against alien enemies."  
  
"Aliens? Like Startreck, The X-Files, Starwars, Roswell, Little Gray Men, come on what am I missing here? Martians...Marvin the Martian, men are from Mars women are from Venus? You can't be serious.... You're not serious, are you?"  
  
"Yes...I'm serious."  
  
"For cryin' out loud...aliens aren't real. They're a myth, like Bigfoot or unicorns. Not real."  
  
Daniel raised his eyebrow; at least he was still talking like the Jack he remembered. "Listen...Jack. Would it helped if I proved it to you?"  
  
"Yeah...I guess it could help."  
  
"Good," Daniel got up from his chair and went to the first nurse he could find, "ah...Nurse Winters right? Um, could you get Teal'c for me? There's something I need to talk with him about."  
  
"Sure thing, Doctor Jackson." She smiled and scurried off to find Teal'c. Daniel went back to his seat, cursing Sam for leaving him with this task. But, she was probably trying to find somebody to help Jack. Maybe the Tok'ra, or Asgard.  
  
"How about we go back over the basics...ok? You're name is Jonathan O'Neill...two l's not one. You're divorced," he gulped, "you lost a son, Charlie, when he was young. Then you came here to work. Went with me through the 'gate, beat Ra,"  
  
"Right...the snakehead thingy that was impersonating an Egyptian god...the sun god...right?"  
  
Daniel was taken aback...Jack was actually listening to him. Hmm...maybe this amnesia thing wasn't so bad after all. He shook the thought out of his head. "Right...but a year later we found out there was more--"  
  
"Listen, I got all of this. I mean...I know it now, you told me. But, I don't remember it. It's all stories to me, just a bunch of jumbled words coming out of your mouth...nothing more. Nothing clicks...nothing registers in my mind. Nothing about me or my life. I remember only the basics, even some movies, TV shows, songs, things I must have liked before. But, none of it means anything to me. It's just...images flashing across my mind like somebody keeps changing the station on a TV...and I'm powerless to stop it, to focus on one channel."  
  
Daniel sighed, he knew what that was like. "It'll come back to you."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Well...for other circumstances I couldn't remember much, either. It came back to me, though. Hopefully, it'll come back to you. It normally does in this sort of cases."  
  
"See...I know that for some reason, but I don't know what that reason is."  
  
Teal'c was finally in the room, Daniel knew from the confused look on Jack's face, and the sound of heavy Jaffa footfall. He turned in his seat and sure enough, there was Teal'c...as stoic as ever. He must not have been told. Daniel excused himself from Jack and walked over to Teal'c to break the news to him.  
  
"Teal'c...hey, um...has anybody told you what happened to Jack?"  
  
"Indeed they have not. Nurse Winters informed me that you required my services."  
  
"Yeah...about that. Um...Jack's sort of lost his memory. He's not really buying the whole intelligent alien life thing. Maybe you, being an intelligent alien yourself, could have more luck than I do."  
  
"Indeed, I will try."  
  
Daniel followed Teal'c over to Jack's bedside. Teal'c didn't sit, rather chose to hover over Jack. "O'Neill." He did his little half bow thing, "I am Teal'c."  
  
"What kind of a name is that?"  
  
"It means strong."  
  
"In what?"  
  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow, "do you not remember me O'Neill?"  
  
"Can't say I do...I think I would remember somebody of you...stature."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"So...you're what, then? An alien?"  
  
"Indeed, I am. I am a Jaffa."  
  
"Really? Good for you." He looked at Daniel, "what's a Jaffa?"  
  
Daniel sighed; this was going to take longer than he thought.

* * *

Sam paced in the control room, which she could tell was beginning to make everybody nervous. She could care less, she had already sent a message to the Tok'ra and to the Asgard, neither had yet to respond. Just then the gate begin to whirl.  
  
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"  
  
Sam was instantly at the computer, "who is it?"  
  
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC."  
  
"Open the 'gate!" She ran out of the control room and made her way into the 'gate room, just as the Stargate whooshed forward. She was relieved when her father came through instead of Anise. She met him halfway up the ramp and gave him a rushed hug. "Dad...thanks for coming. Um...lets talk in the briefing room."  
  
"All right..." he said in a confused tone, but he followed her nonetheless. She led him to the briefing room and shut the door hastily.  
  
"Where's Jack?"  
  
"That's kind of what this is about, dad. General O'Neill is kinda...well, he's got amnesia."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's all my fault. We were off world, I should have been watching his back. We came under enemy fire, he was shot, but his vest protected him. He fell backwards and hit his head on a rock, breaking his arm in the process. He got a concussion. It's a miracle we even got out alive, but--"  
  
"Sammy, that doesn't sound like your fault."  
  
She shook her head; "it really doesn't matter whose fault it was at this moment, what matters is getting his memory back. He's the most important person here he can't have memory-loss. Is there anything that you or the tok'ra can do for him? That thing that Hathor used on us to recall our you get one of those?"  
  
"I don't know if that would work, Sam. You actually have to have remember the memories for them to come up...we could try."  
  
"What about the Asgaurd, is there anything that they could do?"  
  
"Honey, I don't think the Asgaurd have a problem with memory loss...we can try some a Tok'ra memory recall device, but I think that the best way to help Jack is the old fashioned way. Try to put him around things that might help jog his memory, things he loves. Take him to his house, talk about past missions, anything you can think of...'cause I really don't know if the Tok'ra was is going to work."  
  
"We have to try."  
  
"I know, Sammy. I know."

* * *

"So, since I'm the CO of this...base that makes me your boss right?"  
  
Daniel's mental alarms were starting to go off, "yeah...I guess that would."  
  
"So I can order you to do anything that I wanted you to do and you would have to do it."  
  
"No. Not really."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm not in the military."  
  
"But you work for the Air Force?"  
  
"Right...on SG-1."  
  
"And that's one of those teams that goes to other planets? The one that I used to be on before being a General?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Got'cha...so Sam was the blonde...who was the doctor?"  
  
"Dr. Brightman."  
  
"Has she always been the doctor?"  
  
Daniel perked up...they were getting somewhere. Maybe he remembered Janet. "No! Do you remember something? The other doctor?"  
  
He sat up in the bed and rubbed his temples, he thought for awhile before falling back onto the bed in defeat. "No...I lost it. It was right there and I lost it."  
  
"That's ok. Don't rush yourself...just...just do the best that you can."  
  
He didn't reply, instead turned to look at something past Daniel, in the direction of the door. Daniel turned slightly in his seat to see who it was he was looking at, Sam and Jacob stood in the doorframe, watching. Daniel got up from his chair and made his way over to them to fill them in on what had happened so far. He sighed; he had another long conversation ahead of him.

* * *

A/n: Ok, here, next chapter. And I promise, Pete won't be a problem for long, he's not even in the story yet...so, no pillows! lol. Oh my goodness thanks for all of the reviews I got, I've never had so many reviews on a first chapter before, you guys rock. Anyway, hopefully this didn't disappoint anybody. Let me know what'cha think...I'll try to get the next one out soon...maybe in the next three days. I'm not sure, I've got powderpuff practice tomorrow, and who knows when else. Anyway...review!


	3. Chapter Three

Title: John Doe

Chapter:

Three Summary: The process of getting back Jack's memories begins, with little success.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Singularity, and slight spoilers for Affinity.

* * *

The Stargate swirled and a rush of blue water burst forward, then as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. Sam, her father, and Teal'c walked up the ramp and into the shimmering blue water. Daniel stayed behind to help Jack if need be. Anise was waiting on the other side and after a brief explanation about what they needed and why they retrieved a memory recall device. Within only half an hour of their arriving they returned back to earth.  
  
Sam half expected him to be waiting for them on the other side of the gate, that now familiar expression dancing in his eyes, the one that said "I wish I could be out there with you guys." It was ironic, really, the situation. One of the few opportunities he had to go off world and something of this magnitude would happen.  
  
Instead Daniel waited in the 'gate room, his hair messy and his eyes showing a significant lack of sleep. In his right hand he nurtured a plain white cup of steaming coffee. He seemed to perk up when he saw the device, but Sam knew that Daniel was doubtful it would work, much like her father was. Not that she blamed them, she wasn't very hopeful either.  
  
Sam went straight from the 'gate room to the infirmary, not bothering to change. He was awake; playing a card came with Siler, who had sprained his wrist, again. He looked up from the cards when she entered and smiled slightly.  
  
"Sam...right?"  
  
Oh, dear, how was she going to explain this? "Uh, sir. You're supposed to address me using either my rank or last name. Most of the time it's Carter."  
  
"Oh...Carter then. I got it."  
  
"Um, sir, we might have a way to get back your memory. A tok'ra device that can recall memories and play them on a sort of screen. We're not sure if it's going to work or not, but it's worth a try. Are you up to it? I mean, it is your decision, of course."  
  
"Ok, where to?"  
  
"The device is in a storage room, I'll show you where it is."  
  
He nodded and got out of the bed. She led him to the room that her father had brought the device to, Teal'c, Daniel, and her father were already waiting for them. He sat down in the chair that was in front of the table the device lay on and Jacob attached the memory recalling device just below his right temple. He winced a bit from the uncomfortable way the small circular device held onto his skin, but said nothing of the brief pain Sam knew it caused.  
  
"Ok, Jack," Jacob started, "all I want you to do is think, it doesn't matter what you think about, or who you think about. Anything or anybody will do."  
  
An image of Daniel popped up, though only a few hours old. Daniel was rattling on, explaining to Jack the difference between a Goa'uld and a Tok'ra.  
  
"Let's try something before today."  
  
He nodded and shut his eyes so tightly it seemed that he was straining himself. Pictures passed on the screen, so quickly that it was hard to make them out, but the images finally slowed and became recognizable. They finally slowed so much so that it was one memory on the screen, one point in time. General O'Neill's first memory was of Skarra, struggling to learn their language. But, as quickly as the image appeared, it was gone. Jack's eyes flew open.  
  
"I know that boy...his name...it's right there, right at the tip of my tongue." He sighed in frustration, "just out of reach. God, this is so damn annoying!"  
  
"It's ok, Sir," Sam said trying to reassure him, "it'll come to you, just give it some time. Maybe the Tok'ra wasn't the best way. Dad's probably right, we should do it the old-fashioned way."  
  
"Old-fashioned way?" He inquired.  
  
"Take you around the things you knew before, your home, your old office, and even your new office. Daniel, Teal'c and I can talk of some of the missions we went on when you were a part of SG-1. Just, anything to jog your memory."  
  
"Great, when do we leave?"  
  
Sam pulled up in front of the house with a frown on her face, of course Daniel and Teal'c would already have a mission scheduled...leaving her alone with the General. Not that it was a bad thing, but it was just so frustrating for her to see him like he was, confused and upset. She wanted to help him; she just didn't have a clue how. She took the keys out of the ignition and looked over at him, he was sitting in the passenger's seat staring down at his hands, as if studying them.  
  
She tried to remove the frown from her face, she wasn't sure if it had worked or not. "Are you ready?"  
  
He looked up at her, then his gaze shifted from her face to just past it, at the house that stood in the background. "As I'll ever one. I've got a key." She got out of the car and waited for him to do the same. As he did he slid on a pair of glasses; it was hard to imagine that this man who appeared to be the regular General O'Neill had no memory of his life at all. He still behaved the same; his quirky sense of humor still had a way of making her smile when she didn't want to, or even when a smile wasn't required. For all intensive purposes he was Jack O'Neill, but at the same time he wasn't. It was like there was a whole other robot parading around.  
  
The whole ordeal brought her back to the memory stamp experience, when they hadn't been CO and 2IC, instead they were Jonah and Therra, two workers. In a way she missed being Therra, Therra hadn't had to worry about her feelings for Jonah, there were no rules, no regulations to hold her back. They could be together with no consequences. As Colonel Carter she had to forget about how she felt for her commanding officer, they weren't allowed.  
  
She shook the thoughts out of her head, she shouldn't be thinking like that at a crucial time like this, she should be thinking of ways to bring back his memory. She turned the key in the lock on the front door of his house and pushed the door open. A small gush of warm air hit her face, pushing her hair back slightly. She dropped her keys on the table by the door and turned on the air.  
  
"It's a bit stuffy in here, huh?"  
  
"Well, you haven't been home in about a week. The air has been off, so, yeah. Stuffy."  
  
She led him into the living room and he slowly began to look around, flipping through the books in the bookcase, glancing at the magazines, studying the photos on the mantle. He picked up one in particular and stared intensely at it, tracing the outline of the two smiling faces featured in it. He then handed it to Sam. "When was this taken?"  
  
She studied the photo herself, it wasn't old, actually it had only been taken weeks before. At Teal'c's apartment warming party. It was of them. "Only about a month ago, at Teal'c's apartment."  
  
"Teal'c has an apartment? He told me he lived on base."  
  
"Well, he does now...and he did for a long time before. He didn't live there long, a lot happened. The girl who lived next doors boyfriend tried to attack her, she killed him in self-defense. Some people who thought that it wasn't a smart idea for an alien to live among civilians made it seem like he did it. In the end it was all resolved. Which, I don't really know why they made such a fuss about him living in the city anyway, there have been other aliens to live here, with no problems."  
  
He picked up another photo, "Cassie?" He handed the photo to her.  
  
He was right, it was a picture of Cassie. "Right...this is Cassie."  
  
He thought something over for a moment. "She's an alien."  
  
"Yeah. She's an alien; she's in college now. You gave her a dog, said that it was Tauri tradition, every child was supposed to have a dog."  
  
He shook his head, disappointed. "I don't remember."  
  
"It's a good sign that you remember Cassie. Just...don't strain yourself, any pace is better than no pace. Come on, let's go look around the rest of the house."  
  
He nodded solemnly and followed her into the kitchen.

* * *

A/n: Ok, so I'm thinking Pete's gonna come in on the next chapter. Anyway, thank you for reading! Review please!


	4. Chapter Four

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Four  
  
Summary: The chapter we've all dreaded...time to bring in Pete.  
  
Spoilers: Holiday, Small Victories, Affinity, small spoilers for The Lost City, and Beneath the Surface

* * *

They spent another good hour, hour and a half at Jack's house, looking around, trying to bring back old memories. They didn't get very far, he seemed to remember Cassie, he even remembered when Daniel had a little too much to drink at began ranting about how "deep" Teal'c really was. Though, he hadn't remembered that at the time, Ancient technology was slowly taking over his brain, their conversation before Daniel and Teal'c had arrived, or being frozen in the Antarctic. Sam said nothing about the experiences; he had to remember them on his own, she wasn't supposed to force him into anything.  
  
While they were looking around the house she found a few things, tucked away in various places. The crossword puzzle was lying inside of a 2003 TV guide issue. That white bowl that he (when he had the Jonah memory stamp) had contemplated over, which incidentally brought back his memories, was in his kitchen, lying haphazardly on the table. A picture of Janet was tucked into the corner of the mirror in his bedroom, she was smiling that huge smile of hers, the one that said "I'm going to get you for this," whatever he had done to her must have been bad, she looked mad.  
  
He had inquired about whom the woman in the picture was, had it been his wife? he wanted to know. All she could say was "no". Watching him stare at the photo in confusion had been too much for her, she had had to leave the room.  
  
By the time they left, a few other memories had returned to him. Mostly just insignificant things, eating pizza and watching movies with the rest of SG-1, alone on downtime watching The Simpsons, things of that nature. But, it was only a handful of memories, and they were not coming back to him nearly as quickly as she would have liked, or hoped. Though, she told herself once more, any pace is better than no pace.  
  
What had happened inside the house wasn't nearly as significant as what had occurred when they were outside, about to leave. The woman who lived across the street, her teenage daughter, and a large gray and white Husky were exiting a tan-colored Suburban, the young girl ranting about something. The dog's collar slipped from her hand as she argued with her mother and ran as fast as it could towards Sam and Jack.  
  
"Sierra!" She called after the dog, "stop! Come back, now!"  
  
The dog didn't listen, instead quickened its pace. When it reached them it stopped in front of Jack and stood on its hind legs, placing its front paws on his stomach. Jack smiled and pet the dog, slowly moving backwards so that she wasn't still on top of him. The girl came running across the street an exasperated look on her face.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that, her leash must've slipped from my hands." She grabbed the dogs collar, and scolded the dog, "bad girl. Bad Sierra!"  
  
"It's all right," Jack said, "no harm done."  
  
The dog tried to walk away and she tugged at her collar, "you've been gone for awhile, work take you out of the country again?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just had to check on some things."  
  
She looked over at Sam, "I've not seen you here in awhile. My name is Chloe." She extended her hand and Sam took it, giving her a friendly shake.  
  
"Sam."  
  
"Nice to meet you Sam," her eyes trailed to the diamond ring on Sam's finger, "are you two...?"  
  
"No!" Sam called out, a little too quickly. She pulled her hand back embarrassed. "I'm sorry...no, WE aren't. I am though."  
  
"Oh...well congratulations anyway." The dog tugged at her leash, "stop, Sierra." She looked back at Jack, "well...it was nice to talk to you again. Bye, Jack."  
  
"Bye...Chloe." He called after her as she walked away, the dog running ahead.  
  
They were silent as they got into Sam's car. When she pulled out of the driveway and began to drive down the street she noticed that he was staring at her hand, the one in which her engagement ring was on. "So, uh...you're engaged? For how long?"  
  
She kept her attention on the road, not daring to look him in the eye. "Only about a month."  
  
"Oh...who's the lucky guy?"  
  
She sighed; this was a bit harder than she imagined it would be. "His name is Pete. He's a cop."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"Hmm, what?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"I was thinking that we would go to see Daniel at his apartment...Teal'c is with him I think. Maybe being around everyone at once, somewhere we use to meet up a lot, will bring something else back?"  
  
"Whatever you say...you're the one who remembers where to go."

* * *

Daniel and Teal'c were going over things that might help bring back Jack's memories when there was a knock at the door, Daniel got up to answer it, but before he could get to the door it opened itself, and Jack and Sam entered. He wasn't surprised to see him, Sam had told him that she would probably be dropping by after going to Jack's house. Of course, she hadn't actually said "Jack's house"...it was still "The General's house." He sighed to himself.  
  
"Hi guys, you want something to drink?"  
  
Sam shook her head, so did Jack, who was on his way into the living room, presumably to talk with Teal'c. Sam stayed behind and shifted nervously from one foot to the other, twirling her ring around on her finger. Daniel got tired of the silence quickly.  
  
"What?"  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes full of mixed emotions. "You don't know how hard this is."  
  
That shocked him, "I don't?"  
  
She sighed, "well, you do, of course. But...seeing him at his house, not remembering anything, or knowing where anything was...it was...I don't even know the words for it. I had to explain almost everything to him, why he had all the DVD's of The Simpsons, where we were and what we were doing in ALL of the pictures, where his bathroom was, where his bedroom was, even where the garbage can was located! And, when he didn't know who Janet was...it was just too much, I had to leave the room, I would have started crying I know it. The look of confusion on his face..."  
  
"Did he remember anything?" He wanted to know.  
  
She nodded, "a few things. He remembered who Cassie was," she smiled, "and when he had the ancient outpost downloaded into his memory...the second time, he remembered you trying to convince him exactly how deep Teal'c was. But, he didn't remember about the download, or anything else about what had happened. Um, some other things, too. Little things, SG-1 meeting up at his house, eating pizza, drinking beer, watching Star Wars...because of Teal'c. Those things."  
  
"Well, that's better than nothing."  
  
She looked down, her feet suddenly becoming astonishing, "I guess so."  
  
"There's something else isn't there?"  
  
She nodded without looking up. "As we were leaving the girl who lives across the streets dog broke free from her grasp, it came running up to the General. When she came over to get it, she noticed my engagement ring, asked if he and I were engaged. Then he started to ask questions, about who I WAS engaged too. It was a little bit..."  
  
He lifted an eyebrow, in a way that would make Teal'c proud. "A little bit, what?"  
  
She pursed her lips together and glared at him. "I'm going into the living room now."  
  
She walked past him still glaring intensely. "What did I say?!?" He called after her. She ignored him.  
  
"Fine," he muttered to himself, following her into the living room. Teal'c was in the process of showing Jack how to kel'no'reem, though he didn't actually have to do so anymore. Jack seemed to be having a hard time with it.  
  
"Have I ever tried to do this before?" He asked Teal'c, one eye opened slightly to look at the Jaffa.  
  
"Indeed you have, O'Neill."  
  
"Oh. Did it go as well as this?"  
  
"Why do you not try and remember yourself? Think of it, O'Neill. It will come back to you a-gain."  
  
He shut his eyelids tightly, deep in thought. After awhile, his eyelids popped open. "Ma'chello!"  
  
"Yes! Ma'chello! You remember him?"  
  
"Inventions to fight the Goa'uld! His mind switcher! It switched Teal'c and I..." he shot a look in Teal'c direction, "he wanted to shave my head!"  
  
Teal'c bowed his head, not phased by the dirty look Jack had given him. "Indeed I did, O'Neill."  
  
Jack smiled, "I'm starting to remember."  
  
Daniel nodded, "slowly but surely...just keep thinking about things, if you get a feeling of déjà vu--"  
  
He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, Jack cut him off, "déjà vu...fishing."  
  
Daniel looked at him through confused eyes, "fishing?"  
  
Sam however, understood. "Right. What else do you remember about that?"  
  
"You wouldn't come..." he thought it over for a second, "Thor! My little gray buddy, did you guys try to talk with him? Maybe he can get my memory back?"  
  
"The Asgaurd don't have that type of technology...they're too advanced for memory loss."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"But, at least you're remembering things more rapidly. That's a good sign," Sam told him.  
  
He nodded and Daniel noticed his gaze switch to her ring finger, he looked away from it quickly, and began to fuss at Teal'c for wanting to shave his head. Daniel looked over at Sam and caught her gaze, she gave him a "don't even start" look. So, he didn't.

* * *

A/n: ok, so Pete isn't actually in this chapter...but, he is mentioned. He'll come in soon, but not for long. Remember, I'm a shipper! Lol, anyway, please review! 


	5. Chapter Five

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Five  
  
Summary: Old habits, new habits, and mental songs.  
  
Spoilers: Beneath the Surface and Heroes Part II

* * *

Sam was at home reading when her telephone rang. She sighed to herself and glanced at the clock above the television, it was only half past eight. She figured that only two people would be calling her at home, at any time, Daniel or Pete. She wasn't sure why, but she was hoping that it wasn't the latter, as horrible as that sounded.  
  
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost missed the call completely. She picked up the phone just as her answering machine had made it to the 'beep'. "This is Sam."  
  
"Sam, honey. Where have you been? I thought that you got back from your mission two days ago."  
  
She sighed inwardly, it was Pete. "Hi, Pete. I'm sorry, a lot's been going on."  
  
"Oh? Like what?"  
  
She knew his interest was genuine, but she really wished he could care less. "The General kind of...lost his memories."  
  
"He has amnesia?"  
  
"That's about right."  
  
"Oh, that's horrible." She felt light-headed. Where she could tell he was actually being truthful when he asked what had happened, she could tell that he didn't care whether or not the General could remember anything.  
  
"Yeah. We've been working to bring his memories. I guess I just forgot to call."  
  
"That's ok, babe. I'll be in town tomorrow. Do you want to go out for dinner or something."  
  
"Pete...I can't. I just got home half an hour ago...I'll be with the General."  
  
"Oh," he sounded disappointed.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"That's all right. I understand."  
  
She knew that was a lie, "I'll talk with you later, ok?"  
  
"Yeah. Bye, hon."  
  
She said her goodbye and hung up the phone. She sighed to herself again and picked up her book and began to read again.

* * *

He couldn't fall asleep. Nothing would help...not warm milk, not medicine, he even tried counting sheep, didn't make it past 4 but he still tried. All sorts of thoughts kept popping into his head, about his life, professional and personal. After nearly three hours of lying in bed and hoping sleep would sneak up on him he gave up, crawled out from under the warm covers, padded into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and went outside. He wasn't too sure where he was going and what he would do when he got there, but something told him to walk around to the side of the house. He was surprised when he saw the ladder, but climbed up it all the same.  
  
There was a telescope up there. Interesting, he didn't figure himself the kind of guy who stargazed. But then again, with his job, he understood why he would. Perhaps he had even picked up the habit when he was little. Maybe in time he would figure it out.  
  
Sitting on one of the lawn chairs he sipped his beer and stared up at the night sky. How many planets had he gone to? How many other worlds had he stepped foot on? How many different races had he come in contact with? These were the questions that filled his mind, which kept him from sleeping. He knew, it was there somewhere, but where? Why couldn't he remember? Would he ever remember again?  
  
After he had finished with the beer he sat in front of the telescope, pointing it in many different directions. He had looked through this device before, probably hundreds of times, but he couldn't remember doing so. He watched as a shooting star streaked the sky. He wasn't sure how long he was out there, but after awhile he heard a familiar thud, somebody was coming up the ladder.  
  
He turned in his chair just in time to see blonde hair peaking over the edge of the house. Seconds later, a forehead, then bright blue eyes and the beginnings of a nose. He already knew whom the face belonged to...and by the time her mouth and chin was visible it was confirmed. One Colonel Samantha Carter was making her way up to the roof of his home.  
  
"Colonel...is there a reason you're climbing to the roof of my house at...oh, 4 in the morning?"  
  
She shrugged, "couldn't sleep."  
  
"So you came here? Is this something we did frequently?"  
  
He could see her cheeks flush in the darkness, "ah, no. I just figured why waste time we could use getting your memories back?"  
  
"And how do you propose we do that?" He asked, both his eyebrows raising slowly up his forehead.  
  
He saw a smile grow, "not in any way you're think, sir."  
  
He smiled, "damn."  
  
She sat down in the other chair, and reached out for him. No, she had a beer in her hand, handing it to him. There was another in the other, for her. She twisted the cap open and took a sip. "I hope you don't mind, I used my spare key."  
  
"How many people have a key to my house?"  
  
"Uh, me, Daniel, and Teal'c. That's all I know of...who knows how many lucky women have a spare key to your home."  
  
"So that's why that redhead was in my house when I got home..."  
  
Her smile grew and she took another sip of her beer. "Have you remembered anything else?"  
  
He shook his head, "I've been trying, but nothing has come. Maybe I'm trying too hard, maybe I should do what you said, let it come to me. I don't know, it's all so frustrating." He sighed, "how come you couldn't sleep?"  
  
"I just thought that I should be helping you. I felt like, by sleeping, I was slacking off. We've gone through this before...we've had to remember things. But, this is different, that time it was all of us, this time it's just you."  
  
"You mean, I've lost my memory before?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Damn...you'd think I'd remember something like that."  
  
A smile once again appeared on her face. He decided that he liked to make her smile. He would do it more often.  
  
"So, sir..."  
  
"You know, I'm not too sure how I used to feel about this before, but, do you always have to call me 'sir' or 'General'? I mean, the Air Force can't really tell you what to call me outside of work can they?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Ok then. So, from now on, and this is an order, ok Colonel? From now on when we're not at work, off world, or doing anything that involves work you call me Jack...or you can even call me Jonathan, which ever floats your boat. Got it?"  
  
"All right si...Jack."  
  
"Good."  
  
Neither of them spoke for the next couple of minutes. They each turned their gazes upward, at the sky littered with millions of bright, twinkling stars. Each with a different outlook, one wondering about his life, the other contemplating hers. Jack looked over at Sam, who was still looking towards the heavens. He directed his gaze back upwards, as well, and took another sip of his beer, emptying it. He set the bottle down on the roof and the glass clanged when it made contact. Sam turned away from the sky and looked towards him. Their eyes locked, and then both turned away, each with their cheeks flushing.  
  
As he tried to avoid eye contact with his 2IC he tried to remember things...he wasn't sure what it was he wanted to remember, anything he guessed. He peeked over in her direction to see her head turn quickly. He looked back at whatever it was he had been looking at before and then looked back at her. Her head turned and then so did his. What an interesting song and dance, he wondered if they had always been like that. They had, a voice in the back of his mind called out to him, they had always been like that. He knew that voice...he couldn't place it, but he knew it. It was female, but not Sam's. He ruled that out. Maybe, he mused; it belonged to the woman in the picture he had found earlier.  
  
He looked over at her and broke the comfortable silence they had held. "That woman in the picture, who was she?"  
  
Something in her eyes changed. They held an emotion in them he had yet to see from her, at least as far as he could remember. Instead of the bright, crystal blue that they normally were they were dark and filled with pain. Who had the woman been, he wondered, what had happened to her?  
  
Sam looked down at her hands, "are you sure you want to know?"  
  
"I'm sure. I mean, she meant something to me, right? I want to remember her, she must have been important in my life, I can feel it. I understand that whatever it is, its bad. But, these are my memories, I want to remember them. No matter how depressing they may be, they're mine."  
  
She nodded, still looking down at her hands. When she spoke he could hear her voice falter, though she did a good job at hiding it. "Her name was Janet."  
  
"Janet?"  
  
She looked up, nodding, "Janet."  
  
He looked away from her, she did the same. Only, she looked back down at her hands, and he looked back up at the dark sky. How many of those places had he gone to? How many were waiting for him to arrive? He collected all of those thoughts and pushed them to the back of his mind. _Janet._ His mind played over and over again, like a song._ Janet, Janet, Janet._ Who was she? How important had she been in his life? How long had he known her? When did they met? What happened to her? How horrible had her fate been? _Janet, Janet, Janet._ Remember, Jack, his mind screamed at him. Remember.  
  
"What was her last name?" He asked, still staring heavenward.  
  
"Fraiser."  
  
The song changed, now instead of Janet, Janet Fraiser played over and over again in his mind. Like a broken record, _Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser_. Who was she? What had happened to her? Who was she? Who was she? _Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser_. What had happened to her? What had happened to her? What had been Janet Fraiser's fate?  
  
_She died._ The voice sang in his head.  
  
He looked over at Sam, "she's dead?"  
  
She looked up at him, the pain still dancing in her eyes. She nodded slowly.  
  
He shut his eyes tightly, allowing the song to continue to play in his mind. _Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser, Janet Fraiser._ Important. She had been important. _Doctor Janet Fraiser._ The song suddenly changed. _Doctor Janet Fraiser, Doctor Janet Fraiser. Doc Fraiser.  
_  
"She was a Doctor? Doc Fraiser?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
_Doc Fraiser, Doc Fraiser, Doc Fraiser._ Think Jack, the voice said, think. _Doc Fraiser, Doc Fraiser, Doc_ _Fraiser._ She meant so much to you, that voice screamed at him, remember her! _Doc Fraiser, Doc Fraiser. Janet Fraiser, Doctor Janet Fraiser. Doc Fraiser. Remember. Doc Fraiser_.  
  
"I can't..." he sighed with frustration, "that's all I remember. I can't, there's nothing else."  
  
"It's ok, Jack." Her voice said, still thick with emotion. "That's all right. Don't push yourself. You'll remember. You have to...she was too important to you. You'll remember her. Don't strain yourself, It'll come. You'll see." He looked over at her to see tears collecting in her eyes, all though something told him she wouldn't allow them to fall. She blinked slowly, holding them back. "You'll see...it'll come back. Trust me, Jack...you'll remember her."  
  
He got up from his chair and walked over to hers, kneeling down in front of her. "Hey," she looked up at him, her blue eyes clouded with tears that wouldn't fall. "Are you ok?"  
  
He could see her hands shaking in her lap, "I just...I wish you remembered her. She was so special...it's not right that you can't remember her." Her voice shook, matching her twitching hands, "I wish you could remember."  
  
He stood up, taking her hands into his, and pulling her up with him. He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened in his embrace at first; somehow he knew she would. But, eventually the stiffness melted away, and she wrapped her own arms around his waist. She leaned her cheek on his chest and he rested his chin on the top of her head. They stood there for what seemed like hours, neither moving. She moved and looked up at him, her eyes still holding back her tears. Finally, a lone tear escaped, racing down her cheek. He wiped it away and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead. "How you doing?"  
  
She smiled sadly, "fine." Then, suddenly she buried her face in his chest and let out a frustrated grunt, taking him off guard.  
  
He chuckled and she looked back up at him, a smile dancing in her eyes. "Feel better now?"  
  
She nodded and rested her forehead on his chest, sighing. After a minute she pulled back and out of the embrace, sitting back down on the chair she occupied only minutes before. She looked at her watch and then sighed once more, "it's after 5."  
  
"And?"  
  
"I've got to get ready for work...I should go."  
  
"Right...work."  
  
"Yeah. Work...just because you don't remember much doesn't mean that gets you a get out of work free card, sorry."  
  
He pursed his lips together, "bummer."  
  
She flashed another magnetic smile at him. "I'll see you later, sir."  
  
"Back to sir, huh?"  
  
The smile died down a little, "yeah." Without another word she made her way down the ladder and he watched as she ran across the front lawn and got into her car. As she drove away he realized that the song that was playing over and over in his mind now had two names...two people he wanted to remember even more than he already did. Now, instead of just Doc Fraiser, the song consisted of a different type of Doctor._ Doc Fraiser, Samantha Carter, _his mind sang,_ Doc Fraiser, Samantha Carter._

* * *

A/N: Ok, so I was told by somebody not to reduce Sam to a blubbering fool, and I hope I didn't disappoint that reader. I know I had her cry, but she didn't actually bawl or anything. It was really just that one tear, and I thought it fit. Anyway, I did make this chapter longer, almost 1,000 words longer I think. So, that was another request I had. And, the shippyness has started, even though Pete is still in the picture. I promise, he won't be for long! Ok? Anyway, let me know what'cha think. 


	6. Chapter Six

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Six  
  
Summary: Finally...after many requests from my readers, Pete gets the boot. But, I didn't kill him, sorry.  
  
Spoilers: So many...where do I start. Uh, let's see. Oh, who cares? They speak for themselves.

* * *

She tired to focus on the road ahead of her as she drove, she tried turning on the radio, she even tried to name all of the planets that SG-1 had been to, none worked. Her mind kept bringing her back to only minutes prior, on the roof of Jack's ... The General's ... home. Mixed emotions filled her mind; the loss she felt since Janet had gone, the frustration of trying to help the General regain his memories, and ... the last one was a bit tougher to place. When he held her in his arms, no matter how platonic it may have been on his part, brought back a flood of memories and feelings. Huddling together to stay warm in the Antarctic and being told that giggling was NOT allowed for the first time, being one of the few people on base who wasn't under Hathor's spell, trying to save him and all the others. Watching as he kissed the alternate reality Carter goodbye, feeling somehow cheated. For once in her life not having to worry about regulations, even though the reason she didn't have to was because she had her memories replaced with those of a worker named Therra. Falling in love with Jonah, then having going back to normal again. Yelling at him, pleading with him to leave her, to save himself. Seeing the look of pure terror in his eyes as he heard the Jaffa coming, him telling her he wouldn't leave. Feeling her heart leap with joy when he confessed that he cared about her, "more than he should", and that he would rather die than loose her; only to have it break again when she vowed to keep those words--the ones she had waited what seemed like a lifetime to hear--a secret. Crying in his arms after loosing her best friend in the world, wondering if she would ever feel complete again without her, and God help her, not wanting to leave the comfort of his warm embrace. Then, watching as he was engulfed in ice, hearing Daniel translate for him, although she already knew what he had said. Feeling, once again, alone. Wishing she had his comforting arms to run to, wondering if she ever would again. Knowing that, without him there, she was incomplete.  
  
Oddly enough, incomplete described exactly what she was feeling as she pulled into the driveway of her home and parked her car. She didn't even change as soon as she entered her home; instead she examined her engagement ring. She had found a wonderful man, why did she still feel this way? Why did these thoughts and feelings still plague her? _Because he's not the wonderful man you want!_ Her mind screamed at her, _Because he's not Jack!_  
  
She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the thoughts that had consumed her mind. The attempt wasn't a good one, instead of getting rid of the thoughts, it only brought more. _You didn't even want to talk to him today,_ her mind told her,_ what does that say about your relationship? But, Jack ... you went all the way to his house, at 4 in the morning!  
_  
Closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair she let out a sigh. She stayed there, resting, for a few minutes before she leaned forward, her eyes shooting open. "I need a shower," she said out loud, to nobody but herself.  
  
Though she took her time with getting ready she still made it to work nearly a half-hour before she was due. The General was already there, she found him hovering around her office, looking a bit lost. He smiled when he saw her, his eyes lighting up.  
  
"Hey...you're early."  
  
"As are you," she said swiping her card and opening the door to her office. He followed her in. "Do you need something, General?"  
  
He stood in the middle of the room, scratching his head. "Uh, not really ... you know, my job is a bit boring."  
  
"Oh? You run the nations ... scratch that, the worlds only line of defense from aliens. I'd say it's not that boring."  
  
"You haven't seen the stack of paperwork on my desk."  
  
She smiled, "no, sir, I haven't. Well, if you want to hang around here for a while, that's fine, just don't touch any--"  
  
"Doohickeys," he said instinctively, looking at her strangely when she began to laugh, "I got it." He told her when she stopped, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "not touching anything."  
  
She sat down at her desk, opened her laptop, and began typing away. He tried to sneak a peek at the words collecting on her screen, but that didn't last long. She was writing a report, full of technobabble, as he so lovingly referred to it. She was surprised; he actually lasted nearly half an hour before he had finally grown bored.  
  
"I'll go see what Daniel or T's doing." He said, more to himself than to her.  
  
"All right, sir. I'll see you at lunch?"  
  
"Right. Lunch," he called as he left the room. A few seconds later there was a very distinct 'ow' and the sound of papers scattering about the floor.  
  
There was a pause, "should've seen that one comin'", the General said with a sigh, his voice traveling from the hallway into her office. She laughed to herself; it looked like he had found Daniel.

* * *

As he help Daniel pick up the papers that had scattered all over the floor he had a feeling that this was something that happened to him...Daniel, a lot. And this intense feeling of déjà vu washed over him.  
  
"Should've seen that one comin'". He said to Daniel with a sigh. The man looked up at him, a strange look on his face, like maybe he had the same feeling of déjà vu, like maybe this HAD happened before, just neither of them could remember it. But, why?  
  
The younger man nodded, finished gathering his things, took the ones he had collected, and scurried back down the hall. Wherever he was headed, whatever he was planning, it must have been important. He crossed that name off of his list of people to see, looked like Teal'c was next in line. With any luck, the Jaffa wouldn't be doing anything that important.  
  
Turned out he was, some kind of Jaffa daily worked out. If you asked him it looked more like Yoga or Paloties or something like that. It would have looked a bit sissy, if it had been anybody other than Teal'c doing it. Yoga Teal'c looked just as threatening as Revenge Teal'c. _He should get an action figure or something,_ Jack thought as he walked back down towards Carter's lab. _The many faces of Teal'c.  
_  
She was still typing away, he wasn't at her office yet, but he could hear the 'tap tap' of the keyboard growing louder with each step she took. He was about to enter her office when he heard the telephone ring, she picked it up after the second ring.  
  
"Colonel Carter speaking, ... Oh hi Pete.... No, I'm not busy, why?...You're where?!?"

* * *

She picked up the phone after it rang for the second time; maybe it was somebody important. Maybe the Asgaurd had something to bring back Jack's memories. Her father had promised he would come back in two days with the Tok'ra memory recall device, to try again. Maybe he had come early.  
  
"Colonel Carter speaking," she said almost instinctively into the phone. Will I change my name? She thought, When I marry Pete, will I be Colonel Shanahan?  
  
"Hey babe."  
  
What was he doing calling her at work? "Oh hi Pete."  
  
"You busy?"  
  
"No, I'm not busy, why?" Suspicion was creeping up on her. What did he have planned?  
  
"Because I'm up here waiting for you."  
  
"You're where?"  
  
"They won't let me into the base...I keep telling them I've been in here before; you're my fiancée. They said that if I want to see you I have to wait up here for you. So...I'm waiting."  
  
"Pete..."  
  
"Oh, come on, Sam. You can take off work for just 10 minutes. What'll it hurt?"  
  
_I don't even want to think about that._ She sighed into the phone, "all right, but only 10 minutes."  
  
He was waiting in his SUV when she made her way to the top, technically it had already been over ten minutes, but she wasn't going to go into semantics. He smiled when he saw her and got out of his car, sending what looked like a smug look over in the guards direction after she gave him a quick kiss hello. _Great, _she thought, _all I need is a reason for the guards to be mad at me.  
  
_"Pete, what are you doing here?"  
  
He leaned his back against the drivers' side of his car and pulled her with him, his hands resting on her hips. "To see you, it's been over a week."  
  
"We've gone longer." She said as a matter-of-factly.  
  
"But, we're engaged now."  
  
She sighed, "Pete. What's the real reason you're here?"  
  
"Come with me."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Who cares? Just, come with me, play hooky for the day. Let's go to a park, have a picnic, feed some ducks." He pulled her closer, "we could go to your house, stay in bed..."  
  
She pulled back. "You know I can't."  
  
He sighed and she thought she saw his eyes roll. "Of course, you have to work," he spat bitterly, letting go of her hips.  
  
"Don't do this Pete. You know I can't just up and leave work, my job is too important. And, the timing is crucial...the General still doesn't remember anything, I'm in the process of--"  
  
He cut her off, "is this how it's always going to be?"  
  
She jerked her head back, confused. "What do you mean?"  
  
He snorted, "what do I mean? You know what I mean, Sam. Is this how it's going to be when we're married? You spending all of your day working...at least when you're actually ON earth? Will I be lucky to see you every other weekend? And, when you are home, will you be called at ungodly hours, to go back to working? Is HE," he spat out bitterly, "always going to come between our time together? Will he always need to be saved, by you?"  
  
She stepped back; "I can't believe what I'm hearing. By God Pete, you knew my work keeps me busy, you knew coming into this that I wouldn't get much time off. For cryin' out loud, this is my job! It's important ... a little more important than spending the day in bed with you. Damn, is that all you came here for in the first place? Sex? What did you expect me to do, drop everything for a romp in the hay? I told you that Jack didn't remember anything, I told you that we would be busy trying to help him. I can't believe you're being so self-centered."  
  
"General."  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"You called him Jack."  
  
She looked away from him, "I just called you self-centered, and basically sex-crazed, and all you can think about is that I called my CO, one of my best friends, by his first name?"  
  
"Where did you go last night?"  
  
She looked back at him, "how is that any of your business?"  
  
"You're my fiancée, I think that makes it my business."  
  
"This ring on my finger doesn't mean you own me, Pete."  
  
"Where did you go?"  
  
"I went to see the General, ok? I couldn't sleep, I thought, I knew, he would be awake. I figured why waste time? And you know what, I'm glad I went, he remembered some things. How did you know I was gone?"  
  
"I called, you didn't answer."  
  
"It was late. I could have been asleep."  
  
"Sam..."  
  
"You've got that damned man tailing me again, don't you? Goddamn Pete, do you not trust me?"  
  
"I trust you, it's him I don't trust."  
  
"I can't believe you...I don't believe this."  
  
"Sam..."  
  
"No...Don't even try and 'Sam' me. I don't have the time for this, I have to work." She turned and began to walk away.  
  
"So that's it, huh?" He called after her, "that's how you're going to solve this? You're just going to walk away from me? Damn it Sam, you running away doesn't help anything."  
  
She turned around and glared at him coldly, "and neither does your being a jackass!"  
  
"Yeah, well, being a bitch doesn't do much, either."  
  
"Fuck you!" She hissed.  
  
"No," he snorted, "fuck your General O'Neill."  
  
She slapped him. She didn't even realize she had until she felt her hand stinging and saw his rise to his face. She turned to walk away again.  
  
"There you go again!" He yelled after her, "if we don't talk about this now, when will we?"  
  
She turned halfway, looking at him over her shoulder. "I don't know, but right now you're the last person I want to talk to." With that she walked away, tugging at the ring on her finger, not turning once to look back.

* * *

A/N: You may be thinking that he's out of the picture, and I think he is, at least as her fiancé, but he will be back in a later chapter, maybe even the next one. Anyway, tell me what'cha think. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Seven  
  
Summary: Jack witnesses the fight between Sam and Pete.

* * *

She didn't notice him as she stormed back into the mountain base. He made sure that she wouldn't. Truth was, after she had gone up to the surface he had followed her, he was curious to see what this Pete Daniel and Teal'c had told him about looked like; he didn't remember. Actually, he was a bit surprised by the mans features, he didn't picture Carter with somebody like him.  
  
The conversation between the two started out relatively normal, at least he guessed. He tensed up a little when he saw the man, Pete, pull her close to him. He could only assume what was being said, he was too far off to hear anything, but he could tell he didn't like it. She seemed a little agitated to him, like maybe she wasn't too fond of what he was saying either. He smiled to himself. He must have really said something she disapproved of and pulled back, but not out of his grasp.  
  
Pete was becoming very annoyed as well and had dropped his hands from her waistline. She took a step back, distancing herself from him. They were about to get into a fight, he couldn't remember much, but he did remember the warning sings of a lovers-feud. He cringed at the name.  
  
They spoke to each other, the voices raised slightly, though still not loud enough for him to understand. He could tell between their voices now, however. And it seemed that Carter was doing most of the talking, or yelling as it was.  
  
He said something to her and she snapped back loudly, her voice was harsh and loud. Though she only said one simple word he cringed.  
  
"What?!?"  
  
He said something back to her, but Jack couldn't hear it. But, she looked away from him, directly at Jack. But he could tell she didn't notice him. She said something to him, he replied and her head whipped back around, he could tell she was staring intensely at him, and it was likely that it wasn't a good look. Though he knew she was probably miserable at the moment, he couldn't help but smile. Maybe he wasn't giving this Pete any credit, since he didn't know him, but he didn't care. He had already decided that he didn't like him. He imagined that he had always felt that way.  
  
There were a few more words between them then he heard her yell, "Goddamn Pete, do you not trust me?"  
  
Pete yelled back, with the same amount of intensity that Carter's voice held, "I trust you, it's him I don't trust!"  
  
Jack cringed, it didn't take a rocket scientist, or in her case an astrophysicist, to know who he meant by 'him'. Sam's voice was once again quiet, while she spoke she gently shook her head. She turned around suddenly, once again looking straight at him but not seeing him, and began to walk away.  
  
"So that's it, huh?" Pete called after her, his voice once again full of rage, "that's how you're going to solve this? You're just going to walk away from me? Damn it Sam, you running away doesn't help anything."  
  
She turned back around and once again he couldn't see her look, but he knew it was a dirty one. "And neither does your being a jackass!" She yelled.  
  
Pete snapped back at her, "Yeah, well, being a bitch doesn't do much, either."  
  
That statement got to Jack, he began to walk up to the two, and break up the quarrel, or fight, or whatever one would like to call it. But, when she yelled back he stopped.  
  
"Fuck you!"  
  
"No," he said with a snort, "fuck your General."  
  
He was once again walking, trying to make his way over to the two, now not only for Carter, but for himself. But, he hadn't walked more than three feet when Carter slapped him.  
  
"Go Carter," he whispered to himself.  
  
She turned and started walking again, he called back after her, and she told him she wasn't too fond of him at the moment, so speaking further was out of the question.  
  
She didn't notice him as she stormed back into the mountain base.

* * *

She noticed him when she stormed past him and back into the mountain base. She didn't acknowledge him as she did, she was too furious to speak with anybody, even him. She raced to the elevators, knowing he was probably only a few steps behind her, trying to make it seem casual, like he had been on the surface for another reason. She really didn't feel like talking with him, let alone spending an awkward 5 minutes riding in the elevator with him.  
  
Thankfully, he didn't make it on time, and the doors shut just as he came into view. She was alone in the elevator and she pressed the button for floor 12. She would have to get off again and go down to floor 27. She hoped that elevator would be just as barren. The ring was gone from her finger now, resting in her back pocket. When she got into her lab she would put it somewhere where she wouldn't have to see it, that way she could think without it taunting her.  
  
The elevator dinged as it made it to the end of it's decent. There was a SF at the door of the other elevator, she showed him her clearance, although it hadn't been necessary for years, and loaded the elevator. She was alone. She was once again thankful.  
  
She thought back to the surface, she hadn't noticed him before; he must have been watching the whole time. She cringed, what had he heard? They had been yelling pretty loudly, things had been said, things about him. This wasn't good, not at all. Maybe he hadn't heard anything, maybe he didn't know who they had been talking of. They were good hopes, but false ones, that much she knew. Of course he had heard, of course he had known. How could he not have?  
  
She made it to her office and put the ring back into the box it came in. Setting the small, velvet case down on her desk she sat down and cradled her head in her hands. What was she going to do?  
  
It wasn't long before he was there; she didn't even have to look up to see who it was. She already knew. There was this distinct presence about him; she could always tell when he was at the door of her office. Maybe it was the way he switched between feet nervously, or the short, annoyed breaths that would escape his throat when she didn't acknowledge him. Maybe there was just something about him, some unexplainable, uncontrollable presence. One only she could sense. It scared and excited her at the same time.  
  
"Hey," he said finally making his presence known, or at least confirming it.  
  
She looked up; her blue eyes glassy due to anger, "hi."  
  
Her tone almost shocked her. It was surprisingly pleasant, smooth, and kind. She had expected it to come out bitter and rude. She could tell it shocked him too.  
  
"I saw you," she told him, "when I came into the building. You didn't know it, but, I knew you were there."  
  
His brows furrowed, "how?"  
  
She shrugged, "same was I always do."  
  
He didn't seem to understand, but moved on anyway. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
She shook her head, "not now. Right now he is the last thing I want to be focusing on. I need a distraction..." she looked down at her watch, "1234. I need food."  
  
"You want to grab something from the commissary?"  
  
She nodded, "yeah, come on." Getting up from her chair she pushed the ring box aside, out of view. He noticed her do so, he didn't acknowledge that he did, but she could tell. She could always tell. She smiled at him and he smiled back, it was like things were back to normal. But, both knew they weren't. He may not have remembered much, but he could still tell she was hurt. She could tell the same of him. Side by side they walked to the elevator to go to the commissary, him leading her with a hand on the small of her back. The platonic touch didn't go unnoticed by either of them, nor by those around them. Several nurses began whispering furiously to each other.  
  
Sam tried hard to hide her smile.

* * *

He was surprised at how well she was taking it, or at least how well she appeared to be taking it. He could tell there was more to it. More fury, more anger, more hurt; all there just beneath the surface. Just past the nice façade she had worked on for so long. He didn't pry, he knew not to. Her walls would crumble, and while that could be a good thing, for her to tell somebody how she was feeling, he knew it wasn't the right time. Maybe later, he mused.  
  
They ate in silence, she fiddled with her blue Jell-O, barely eating it. Something told him that was odd, for her at least. She didn't eat much of her other food either, not that he blamed her. How could he eat that food everyday and still be alive? It was uncanny.  
  
By the time they were done eating it was 1323. He knew that SG-3 would be heading out at 1500 hours, and there was a briefing scheduled for 1330. So, he excused himself and went off to the room.  
  
He didn't do much; there was some other man there to do all the official things, until his memories resurfaced fully. Some things he could remember, but not all of them. So, he didn't blame the Pentagon for sending him help, he welcomed it.  
  
He watched them as they left an hour and a half later. A feeling inside that he could only describe as jealously. He wanted to be with them, he wanted to go with them, he didn't want to stay and wish them good-luck. He wanted to go and assure they wouldn't need any. He knew the feeling, he remembered the feeling.  
  
She came too, and watched them go. The SG-3 marines always ready for a challenge. "They're cocky," she had said to him the other day, "those jarheads think they know everything."  
  
He smiled to himself remembering it. It was a recent memory, but one before the incident. He remembered SG-1 and SG-3 had gone on a mission together, and needless to say it hadn't gone well. Although, she had been commanding office over both teams. He was supposed to do something 'bout it, he recalled. Send them on a mission with Daniel or something; somewhere that had a rich past, lots of things to dig up.  
  
"That planet we were going to send them to, P6X something ... what was the race called?"  
  
She looked at him amazed, "that was almost two weeks ago sir, you remember?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Uh, they were the Artesians, I believe."  
  
"Right ... we'll send them when they get back, I'm sure Daniel would love the vacation."  
  
She smiled, "it's a good idea sir."  
  
"Maybe I'll go along too, and SG-1. If my memories are back by then. I'd like to see Daniel in action."  
  
He laughed, "he does but on quite the show."  
  
They began to walk back to her office, "you know, I do remember one other thing."  
  
She looked over at him, "oh yeah? What's that, sir?"  
  
"I loved to make you smile before, too."  
  
She blushed and turned away, smiling once more. "Thank you, sir."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
She went into her office and he went off to find Daniel, they had a trip to schedule.

* * *

A/N: I actually wasn't planning on doing Jack's POV on the fight, I had already started writing this chapter when I got my reviews, and some of them suggested it. I loved the idea so threw out what I already had and started over. Hopefully, this is better than the other was. Guess we'll never know, eh? Anyway...let me know what'cha think of this one. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Eight  
  
Summary: Jack finally gets Sam to go fishing with him ... and it's not even his idea!  
  
Spoilers: Nemesis and Small Victories.

* * *

He told her twice to go home before she finally did. It was strange, really, how even though he couldn't remember about his life he still did all the things that he did before. It was comforting in a way, confusing in another. She wasn't sure how she felt about it yet.  
  
When she got home it was quiet and dark; normally she would have welcomed it. Silence was a huge change from the chaos and nonstop talking that she was always in the middle of when working. Tonight, however, it was just awkward and made her feel uneasy. She wasn't sure if that was because of the fight she had with Pete or the overwhelming need to bring back the General's memories she still harbored. Whatever the reason was she felt trapped.  
  
Turning the TV on with the channel changer she flipped through the channels and tried to find something that would grab her interest. Since it was late nothing was on, only an endless parade of infomercials. She left the TV on but let her thoughts take over. She was still highly pissed off at Pete, but for some odd reason she could feel her relationship with the General growing while her relationship with Pete faded into the background. Maybe it was because he couldn't remember before, when they had vowed not to speak of their feelings for each other, so he wasn't trying to hide them. Whatever it was it was certainly grabbing her attention.  
  
In the background the hum from the television must have covered up the sound of a car approaching her home and pulling into the driveway because when the doorbell rang she was surprised. Using the remote she muted the TV and called out to whoever it was that she would be there in a second. Flicking on the lamp beside her couch she padded across the living room to the front door, and looked out the peephole.  
  
_Fuck,_ she thought to herself. Pete was standing on her front porch, a highly annoyed look on his face. She snorted to herself and walked right back into her living room, leaving him standing on the porch. She turned the light and the TV off; the house plunged into darkness again. A loud, irritated knock came from her front door but she ignored it and laid down on her couch.  
  
"Sam," he called from the other side of the front door, "Come on! Open the door!"  
  
When she didn't answer after a minute he began banging on the door again, "Open the door or I'll use my key!"  
  
She decided that she wasn't going to wait for him to do that so she felt through the darkness and grabbed her keys from the coffee table. Groping around to feel her way to the door that lead to the garage she tried to be as quiet as she could, but occasional knocked into a few things. Just as she closed the door and entered the garage she heard the sound of keys clanging. She jumped on her motorcycle, turned it on, and using the remote for the door opened the garage. As she drove off she heard her front door slam and the sound of running. She didn't bother glancing over her shoulder, instead starting driving faster. He called out after her, but she ignored him, and kept driving. She already knew where she was going.

* * *

He was outside again, sitting on his roof, when the loud roar of a motorcycle penetrated the silence he was enjoying so much. The roar turned to a gentle hum as the bike shut down, and then the clang of a kickstand hitting the concrete could be heard. Then footsteps, coming up the ladder that lead to his rooftop. Once again the first thing he saw was blonde hair, and he knew instantly knew who it was. She didn't say anything as she sat down in the chair next to him, nor for a good while after that.  
  
"You gonna tell me why you're here?" He called out to her, after nearly ten minutes.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Ok...."  
  
"Why did you follow me this morning?" She asked him after a few minutes, "When Pete called me, how come you followed me up to the surface?"  
  
He didn't answer her right away; truth was he wasn't so sure. He had told himself he had followed her to see what the man looked like, Daniel and Teal'c had spoken of him right after he had woken from the brief coma he had been in. It had peeked his interest, at that time he hadn't known why. He was starting to get an idea now, however. In all truths he had already remembered his previous feelings for her and had been doing his best in hiding them thus far. He knew that it wasn't allowed in the military, fraternizing among their ranks. He shrugged, "I was on my way to see you when he called. You seemed agitated with him on the phone, guess I was just curious."  
  
That seemed to disappoint her, "Oh."  
  
"Why haven't you been wearing your ring?"  
  
She looked down at her barren hand, and shrugged just as he had. "I'm so pissed off at him, I don't want to have to look at him."  
  
"So it'll blow over?"  
  
She seemed to ponder the question, like maybe she hadn't even thought of the problem being resolved, or maybe she hadn't thought that it wouldn't. "I'm," she started, a bit frustrated, "not sure."  
  
"Have you tried to talk with him?"  
  
She shook her head, "The last thing I want to do at this moment is talk to him."  
  
"So you're giving it some time."  
  
"Sir, I really don't know. I haven't thought about it, I doubt I will any time soon. Right now I just want to be mad."  
  
"Nothing wrong with that," he stated as a matter-of-fact.  
  
She smiled briefly at him, but as soon as it had appeared it turned to a frown. He didn't like it when she frowned, he decided.  
  
"You gonna be ok?"  
  
"Not so sure about that one, either."  
  
"If it was meant to work out it will. Give it some time, things will blow over."  
  
She looked at him, their eyes locking. "What if I don't want things to blow over?"  
  
"Why wouldn't you?"  
  
She shrugged, "What if I never wanted things to work out in the first place."  
  
"Then I'd say too bad for Pete."  
  
She smiled, "There's so much I wish you could remember."  
  
"Trust me, I'm trying."  
  
"You know Dad told me to take you places that you love, so far we've only gone to your house."  
  
"Where else would we go?"  
  
"Well, you have been trying to get me to go fishing with you for years. I could use the vacation ... I'm sure you could too. We've both got hours of downtime stacked up, and that is the reason you accepted the job in the first place."  
  
"What is?"  
  
Her smile grew, "So that you could do whatever you wanted to."  
  
A smile appeared on his face, "I like the way you think ... what about Daniel and Teal'c?"  
  
The frown reappeared.  
  
"I mean, they'll be busy right? P3Q-316?"  
  
She smiled again, "Right."

* * *

She went home late or early depending on whom you ask. She was hoping that since it was so late he would be gone already, but she didn't slow the first time she passed her house just incase. Good thing that she didn't, his SUV was still sitting in the driveway. She drove to Daniel's apartment, she had left some clothes there when her home was fumigated, and he had a couch she could crash on.  
  
When he answered the door his hair was sticking up every which way and he wasn't wearing his glasses. She could tell she had woken him up. "Sam?" He asked, squinting at her, "What are you doing here?  
  
"Can I crash on your couch?"  
  
He yawned, "Sure. Come in."  
  
They made small talk for all of five minutes before he announced he was going back to sleep. She grabbed a pillow and blanket and laid down on the couch, thinking about the offer she had made the General earlier._ Am I really going to do this?_ She wondered, _Am I really going to go fishing with him? After all these years of turning him down, and for a good reason. This could be very bad.  
_  
_Or very good!_ That same annoying voice from the other day yelled at her. She smiled to herself; of course the nagging side of her conscious would sound like a certain auburn-haired doctor. It was almost a comfort, a part of Janet that would never leave her.  
  
She finally pushed her apprehensions aside and settled into a dreamless sleep. When Daniel woke her later that morning it was already starting to get light outside and she could see the starts of a pink sky though his window. She told him of her plan over breakfast and a huge, goofy grin appeared on his face.  
  
"What's that look for?" She asked him. His smile grew.  
  
"Daniel! Come on, I'm doing this to help!"  
  
"Sure you are," he replied sarcastically.  
  
"You and Teal'c are invited you know."  
  
His smile disappeared, "Fishing? With Jack? Uh ... If I'm not mistaken Teal'c and I will be off-world starting tomorrow, on P3Q-316." He cleared his throat, "Sorry."  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
He smirked and fixed himself a cup of coffee, then Sam did the same. Ten minutes later they left for work, taking Daniel's car since Sam's motorcycle was all she had and rain was in the forecast. He continued to tease her about her going fishing with Jack, but she wouldn't let it get to her. Truth was, she was excited about going. She had almost gone with him once before, but then the sensible side of her kept her from doing so and instead she just wished him a good time. At the time she could tell he didn't buy her excuse for staying, and the second time he asked she really had something to do.  
  
When she arrived at work she went to his office to see if he was there already. He was. They talked for a few minutes before he told her that they had a week and a half downtime, all they had to do was make sure they took a cell phone in case they needed to be contacted. Their time off started that day, so they would be leaving as soon as possible. She told him she had a few things to finish in her office but it wouldn't take more than two hours, and he also had a few things to do so they decided they would meet up at 1030 Zulu.  
  
At 1030 they met and traveled up to the surface together. She informed him that she would have to ride with him because her motorcycle was still at Daniel's, so they both got into his truck and took off for her house first.  
  
On the way there she was praying that Pete had left already. The last thing she needed was a confrontation between him and the General, which she knew Pete would start if she showed up with him. But, she never was that lucky, and when they pulled up in front of her house his dark SUV was still sitting in the driveway.  
  
"Let me take care of this," she told him. "You stay in here."  
  
He sighed, "Whatever you say."  
  
She got out of the car and walked up to the house. Using her key to enter she found him asleep on her couch. She snorted to herself and walked right past him and into the bedroom where she began to pack for her trip. After she had packed she went through the house, making sure all her lights were off, and turned off her air conditioning. When she was done she went back into the living room and stood in front of the couch. She set her bag down next to the sofa and crouched down in front of his still sleeping form. She decided to take advantage of the fact that he had gone to the police academy, which couldn't be so much different than the Air Force. She leaned right in his ear and as loud as she could yelled out to him. "Wake up Cadet!"  
  
He jumped off of the couch and stood as straight as he could, blinking sleepily. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened and he slouched.  
  
"What are you doing in my house, Pete?"  
  
"I had a key."  
  
"That doesn't mean you can waltz in whenever you want and sleep on my couch."  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought you wouldn't mind, seeing how we're engaged and all."  
  
"Get out."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You expect me to let you sleep in my house after you yelled at me, called me a bitch, and insulted one of my best friends? Get out."  
  
His eyes narrowed, "Where did you go last night? You were home when I came, I heard you. Where did you go?"  
  
"Did you not hear what I said? Get out!"  
  
He saw the bag sitting by the couch, "What's that for?"  
  
"What is this? A game of 21 questions? I said get out of my house, no go!"  
  
"I think you'd better leave, Pete." Came a voice from the doorway. Both looked over to see Jack standing in the hallway.  
  
"What's he doing here?"  
  
Sam ignored the question, "I told you to stay in the car."  
  
He shrugged, "You were taking to long."  
  
"Wait, you're going with him?"  
  
Sam looked back at Pete, "Didn't I tell you to leave?"  
  
"Indeed you did," Jack said, beginning to walk closer. Sam looked over at him and smiled. He'd been around Teal'c for too long.  
  
"You bastard," Pete hissed as Jack got closer, "You have no right to be here."  
  
"Apparently, neither do you." He said sarcastically.  
  
Pete narrowed his eyes; "I'll kick your ass, old man."  
  
Jack looked between Pete and Sam who was shaking her head. "Well, I'm not sure about that. See, you may have been trained to be able to take down the worst of the worst on THIS planet, but, I've been trained to take down scum all over the galaxy. Who do you think is better trained?"  
  
Pete growled and began to say something before Sam grabbed her bag and started walking out the door.  
  
"Where are you going?!" He called after here.  
  
"Somewhere you won't find me," she called over her shoulder. "I hope you don't expect to stay here, because I'm having Teal'c come by later to check the place out, and he can definitely kick your ass. And trust me, he'd probably want to. So, I'd suggest you leave."  
  
And she left him there, standing in the middle of her house, fuming. She followed Jack out to his truck and put her bag in the back. She told him to wait for her for just a second and grabbed something from the front of the car and put it in the palm of her hand. She walked up to Pete's SUV and placed the small, velvet box on the front of it. Then she walked back to Jack's truck, got in, and told him she was ready to go.  
  
"So," he said as they drove off, "you made up your mind?"  
  
"Yes," she said nodding, "I made up my mind."

* * *

A/N: Let me know what'cha think. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Nine  
  
Summary: Sam and Jack drive to the cabin.  
  
Spoilers: A little for Beneath the Surface, yet again  
  
A/N: Ok, I admit I have no clue how long it takes to get to Nebraska from Colorado Springs, and in all truths I have no clue where the cabin is even located. So, I'm making this up as I go along, and I'll probably try to avoid even mentioning the city they're going to. So ... if I get something wrong don't send flames! Let me know, nicely, and I'll fix it.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
She was quiet for the first few hours, staring out the window watching the scenery as he drove. On occasion she spoke, in broken sentences, mostly requests, things like needing to use the restroom or get something to drink. She turned the radio on somewhere during those two silent hours. He wasn't exactly sure when, he guessed about an hour into the drive. It was an oldies station at first, then changed into country as the drove farther. He could tell that the music was on to keep the conversation at a minimum, he couldn't remember much but he did remember that she couldn't stand country music, and that oldies wasn't very high on her list either.  
  
Then, when he pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant he turned the radio off and looked over at her. "You want something to eat? There's not many places past here, so if you get hungry later you might have to wait."  
  
She nodded, "All right."  
  
They got out of the car and made their way into the Burger King. He got a Whopper supersized with a coke; she got a medium Chicken Sandwich with a diet coke. They ate quickly since they had a long drive still ahead of them and spoke very little. Sam seemed to be thinking something over, which wasn't much of a surprise to him. She had just broken up with her fiancé; she was no doubt wondering if she had made the right decision.  
  
When they got back into the car the radio came on once more, but he quickly turned it off as he pulled out of his parking space. She glanced over at him, but didn't say anything, instead just turned back around and looked out the open window again, her arm hanging out the window, and her fingers drumming the outside of the car door. He glanced between her and the road, studying her features. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were pursed together, she was deep in her thoughts.  
  
Focusing his attention on the rode he collected his own thoughts. He hoped that by going to this cabin she had told him of would help bring back something, anything. Preferably about Carter ... or Sam as it was. His feelings for her had already resurfaced; they were one of the first things that had come to him upon waking. But, he had nothing to tell him why he felt so strongly about her. There were bits and pieces, here and there, but nothing solid, concrete.  
  
He glanced back at the directions and turned right, then looked up to see what Sam was doing. She was still staring out that window; her fingers making that now annoying tap, tap sound. He ignored it, she was preoccupied, he wasn't going to push her to tell him what she was thinking about. She would tell him, in due time. He would wait until she was ready, he had enough time.  
  
About an hour later he turned back to see what she was doing, her head rested on her shoulder. To him it looked painful. When he reached the next red-light he reached behind his chair and pulled out a pillow. He lifted her head, pushing the pillow underneath and let it fall back gently onto it. She stirred and murmured something in her sleep, but didn't wake. He smiled and turned back to the rode just in time to see the light turn green, he pulled out and continued on down the road.  
  
Four hours and two gas stations later she woke. Yawning, she stretched out her arms and glanced around, trying to figure out where they were. When she saw the pump he was parked by she unbuckled her seatbelt, slipping on her shoes in the process. She yawned again as she opened the passengers side door and slid out of her seat and onto the ground. Stretching her legs she searched through the truck for her purse, when she found it she pulled out her wallet and made her way into the gas station. He finished gassing up and followed her, to pay for the gas and get something to drink.  
  
She came out of the bathroom as he pulled out a Sprite and sleepily walked over to him, her feet dragging the ground slightly. She stopped not even an inch next to him and pushed him out of the way with her elbow, running a hand haphazardly through her hair. She pulled out a diet Cherry Coke and searched the isles for something to snack on. He followed her and grabbed a bag of Cheetoes while she grabbed Doritos. When they got to the counter she placed her things down and began to pull out some money to pay for it, but just as she had pushed him aside only a few moments prior he gently moved her out of the way, put his own things down, told the cashier what pump he had been at and then pulled out his own money. She crossed her arms defiantly, glaring at him. When they got to the truck she grabbed they keys and told him she was driving.  
  
"No objections from me," he said walking around to the passengers side.  
  
As she turned the key in the ignition she handed him her wallet and told him to put it into her purse. He did so and she pulled out of the gas station and onto the road, asking him where they were on the directions.  
  
"Number 32."  
  
"That far into it?"  
  
He shook his head, "There's still a lot more to go."  
  
"Oh," she sighed. "You know, you really didn't have to pay for me."  
  
"It was only what? Two dollars?" He shrugged, "No sense in you paying for it when I had thirty dollars worth of gas to pay for already."  
  
She sighed again, "I guess you're right."  
  
"Please tell me you're not one of those women who thinks that she should pay for things like dinner and a movie instead of the man?" He smiled, "'Cos if you are we might have a problem."  
  
She smiled at the hidden gesture, but shook her head. "You don't have to worry about that, you can pay for whatever you want. Whatever floats your boat fries your chicken."  
  
He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. She looked over at him and her smile grew.  
  
"What?"  
  
He just continued to shake his head.  
  
"Fine," she said, focusing her attention onto the road.  
  
At least she was talking again.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
She had no clue how he did it, but he had managed to cheer her up once again. Glancing at the clock calculated that they had driven around 6 hours and had roughly around 8 to go. She figured that she'd let him drive again in 5 hours, if he wanted to. Otherwise she'd just continue on. But, when she glanced over she noticed that he was fidgeting in his seat. She guessed that he wasn't much of a passenger, and since this was his car he probably rarely ever had somebody other than him driving it. She just smiled at his awkwardness and turned back to the road.  
  
Glancing at the steering wheel her bare hand caught her attention once again. Truth was, it was the only thing she had been thinking about since they left her house. She had called Teal'c, told him to check on her house in a couple of hours. But he hadn't called back yet. Although she had given the ring back she still didn't want Pete to be hurt, even if he was being an ass to her. She did still love him, despite herself. Now, whether that love was fading or not was a different story. Now, she was feeling an intense hatred for him at the moment, but was it going to pass? She wasn't sure. She just knew that this time she was spending with Jack at his cabin was not only for him, but for her as well. She needed some time off to think, to be alone, so she could recollect and sort through her thoughts. So she could make a defiant decision and say without a doubt that yes, she wanted to leave Pete or no, she wanted to give him a second chance.  
  
Looking over at Jack again she thought that she had already made up her mind, she had told him earlier. She was through with Pete, it was over and that was that. But, was she really so sure? Could she really say that things were over? She had reacted in the heat of the moment; they had both been upset. And, she could actually kind of understand where he was coming from. If she had found out that he was spending time with somebody he had feelings for she would be jealous too. Given her history with Jack she understood why he would be jealous of him ... but she hadn't told Pete everything, hardly anything at that. So, he was really jealous for a good reason, he just didn't know about said reason.  
  
Pushing the thoughts from her mind she focused on the road, watching as it stretched out in front of her and went on for miles, the white lines blurring together as she pushed on the gas, breaking 70. It was late, the sun had set and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the velvety, black night. She knew first hand of the vastness of that dark, endless sky. She sighed to herself, her hands gripping tighter on the steering wheel as he thoughts turned to Pete once again. She looked down to see the whites of her knuckles showing and loosened her grip. The clock read 2000, 7 hours until they reached the cabin.  
  
She cursed herself for allowing herself to think about him again, she had made a silent promise to not think of him for the next week, and she had already broken it. She had been happy only an hour before, when she had started driving. Maybe she should just turn the radio on, or maybe even talk with Jack. It was what she was supposed to be doing, right? Talking seemed to bring back his memories on more than one occasion. Everything was right there, just beneath the surface. And all she had to do was talk about it and it would eventually find its way back. Before she had to watch herself, bringing back the memories from things like the memory stamp incident as well as the zatarc incident could bring back the wrong kind of memories, and while she was engaged that wasn't the most wise thing to do. Now, she wasn't engaged ... so, could they talk about things like Jonah and Therra? Would he remember? Would the feelings complicate things, if they even came back?  
  
She hummed to herself, some nameless tune she either heard a long time ago or made up right then and there. It seemed familiar, but who knew? She turned to look at Jack and he was looking at her, a goofy grin on his face. His smile grew when she felt her own smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, spreading. She turned back to look at the road, "So. Is there anything you remember about this cabin? Lord knows you've told me about the fishing enough times. But never much about the actual cabin?"  
  
She could tell he was shaking his head. "I don't remember anything. All I know is what you told me. Which was that it was in Minnesota."  
  
She nodded, "Ok. Well ... from what I hear the bass grow this big," she gestured with her arms, spreading them out wide, looking over at him again.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"  
  
"Really," she replied nodding.  
  
"Wow." He thought about something for a moment, "There are no fish are there?"  
  
She smiled, "From what Teal'c tells me, no. No fish."  
  
"Right ... then why are we fishing?"  
  
Oh, was this ironic. "Because, sir. It's not about the _fish _it's about the _act of fishing_."  
  
He nodded, "Right ... the act of fishing. Got it."  
  
She shook her head with laughter and once again focused on the road. It was 2032. 6 and ½ hours left and she would finally be at the infamous cabin. This was certainly going to be an interesting week.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
A/N: Feedback, please! Let me know what'cha think. And, thanks for all the reviews ... I really didn't think my story would get this many readers. So, next chapter will be at the cabin.


	10. Chapter Ten

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Ten  
  
Summary: Downtime at the cabin finally begins.  
  
Spoilers: Solitudes  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
She was sitting on the edge of the dock, her feet dangling in the cool, murky water. As she kicked her feet back in forth, watching the water rush along with them; she heard a door open. She turned to look back and see what he was up to, and where he was going. He smiled at her, half-waving. She returned the smile and turned back around, looking out at the water. It was a beautiful day so far, only a handful of clouds were spread across the pale blue sky, and the sun was already heating her bare arms. It was perfect. She regretted not coming with him sooner, even if it had meant fishing.  
  
She heard his footfall as he strode down the dock and to where she was sitting. She turned her head to see his bare feet, then looked up to see him clad in shorts and an old hockey jersey. He looks at least five years younger, she mused. They shared a smile as he bent down and sat next to her on the dock, slipping his own feet into the chilly waters.  
  
"Yikes," he said pulling his feet back out, "that's cold!"  
  
She chuckled softly, "You'll get used to it, sir."  
  
"Sir?" He questioned, "Who's 'sir'?"  
  
She took the hint, "Fine ... Jack. Don't be such a wimp, the water's not that bad."  
  
He scowled and dropped his feet back into the water; they sat together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, each looking out over the water. "So," he finally asked, "what's on the agenda for today?"  
  
She shrugged, "Dunno, it's your cabin."  
  
"I guess you're right," he said nodding. "It would help if I could remember something about my past experiences here."  
  
"Teal'c mentioned fishing," she said with a smile, "and mosquitoes."  
  
"Hmm," he began kicking his feet back and forth just as she had, and watching the small waves that the motion caused. "There's some kind of law to this, right?"  
  
She furrowed her brow, "To what?"  
  
"Ripples...."  
  
She thought a second, "You mean Newton's Third Law of Motion?"  
  
He smiled, "That's the one! Uh, for every action..."  
  
"There is an equal and opposite reaction." She looked over at him, smiling. "You do know that before the whole memory loss thing you weren't fond of people knowing how smart you were, right?"  
  
He shook his head, "Well, no. I didn't. But thanks for tellin' me."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"So," he said, "what's on the agenda."  
  
She rolled her eyes, her smile growing. "You've asked that already."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed, "I know."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Turned out fishing had been on the agenda that day. Hours and hours of fishing. It was certainly not one of Sam's favorite things to do; she figured that out quick. She was sure she had killed at least ten mosquitoes, Teal'c hadn't been exaggerating. It had been a nice day though and she had gotten the chance to work on a very much-needed tan, even if it was in the middle of September.  
  
He had made dinner, which surprised her because she didn't even know he could cook. She herself was a lost cause when it came to work in a kitchen, at most she could make scrambled eggs and hot ham and cheese, but that was about as far as her cooking skills went. So she said that since he had made dinner that day she would make eggs and toast for breakfast in the morning. He had made a face at the time; he told her that even though he didn't remember much he could remember that her cooking wasn't the best. She fought the urge to smack him, even playfully.  
  
There wasn't a television at the cabin so the spent the rest of the evening on the back porch, fighting off mosquitoes and watching the sun set and the moon and stars rise. If the day had been beautiful the night was magnificent, she wasn't sure if she had ever seen the stars so bright, on earth at least. And, while they had been looking through the telescope that he had at the cabin she saw a shooting star fly overhead. She closed her eyes and made a wish, when she looked over at Jack his eyes were closed as well, in what she assumed was a wish. She smiled and looked back through the telescope, wondering what he would be wishing for.  
  
When the night had plunged into complete darkness she talked him into going for a walk, the moon was bright and illuminating the sky so seeing wasn't a problem. They walked quietly around the lake, neither saying much, both more focused on walking. The longer they walked the closer they got to each other, occasionally bumping together. And by the time they got back around to his cabin their hands had joined, fingers intertwined. Neither had realized it at first, then chose to ignore it when they did. When his house came into view they walked past it again, going around the lake another time, hand in hand.  
  
By the time they got back around they went back into the cabin and decided to enter the house their hands dropped to their sides and they stood awkwardly in the living room, each making sure not to make eye contact. They sat down, Sam on the sofa and Jack on the recliner, and were silent. It was nearing midnight by the time either spoke.  
  
"So..." Jack asked, leaning back in his chair, "what now?"  
  
Sam yawned and looked down at her watch, it was 2346. "Now," she said getting up from the couch and stretching out her arms, "I go to bed."  
  
He nodded, standing up himself. "I guess you're right. I should get some sleep too."  
  
She smiled and nodded, "Goodnight, Jack."  
  
"G'night, Sam."  
XXXXXXXXXX  
_His chest hurt, badly. What was that? He opened his eyes to see a mass of dirty, blonde hair. He began coughing, which in turn caused him to struggle for his breath. "Captain." He said, quietly. Hoping to wake her up. "As much as I might otherwise think this is nice--"  
  
"Shh," she said, moving around, which only brought a sharper sting to his chest. "Try to sleep."  
  
He winced through the pain, "Is that what we're doing?"  
  
"You were exhausted," she told him, "and you passed out. I just thought that we would have to combine body heat or we wouldn't make it through the night." She looked at him, her eyes drooping sleepily.  
  
"That's fine," he said to her. "It's just very hard to sleep," she moved slightly and it put pressure on his chest again, he breathed in deeply, "with broken ribs when somebody's lying on you."  
  
She began to lift off of him, "Sorry," she breathed. As she moved over her elbow dug into his chest.  
  
"Ah," he said quietly.  
  
"Sorry," she whispered, "sorry, sorry, sorry." She was now completely off his chest and snuggled into his side.  
  
She was right about the body heat thing; he was beginning to warm up more already. "That's better," he sighed, breathing easily again.  
  
"We'll sleep for a few more hours then I'll fix the DHD."  
  
"Ok," he sighed, "night."  
  
"Night," she replied. A few seconds later she said, "Uh ... Colonel?"  
  
"It's my side arm, I swear."  
  
She began to giggle.  
  
"No giggling," he said, "please."  
  
She stopped giggling, then the seriousness of the situation came floating back down. "If we don't make it," she confessed to him, "I won't have any regrets. Will you?"  
  
"I'll regret," he replied, "dying."___

Jack woke from his dream freezing. No, not a dream. It was a memory, when they had been trapped in the Antarctic, he remembered it clearly. Of corse, at the time they hadn't known they were on Earth, they, or rather she suspected, but didn't know for sure. But, that wasn't the point. He remembered something else! Something important, something very important.  
  
While he was busy marveling over the fact that he was starting to remember things even in his dreams he heard a panicked cry come from the room nearby.  
  
"Colonel!"  
  
It was Sam, that he was sure of. Who else would it be anyway? He crawled out of bed and began to walk towards the other bedroom, which Sam was sleeping in.  
  
"Colonel?" He heard her call out again.  
  
Who was she calling for, he wondered. And if it was him, why was she saying Colonel?  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
_She was freezing and it had been a long time since she could feel anything on her body. She had to keep going though, she couldn't stop. If not only to save her life, but the Colonel's as well. "Colonel," she said into her radio, "I can't see the surface yet. It looks like it just keeps going up."  
  
"Sam?" Came a crackling voice, there was something in that voice she didn't like.  
  
"Yes sir?" She said as professionally as she could, but it wasn't easy.  
  
"It was an honor serving with you."  
  
She closed her eyes and sighed, she hated that he was giving up. She was going to save them both. "Yes, sir." She said into the radio, then kept moving forward, towards the surface.  
  
It was nearly half an hour before she reached her destination. There was a small hole, not big enough to crawl though, but enough to where she could see a blue sky. She dug at it, making the small hole large enough for her to crawl through. "Colonel," she said into the radio while digging for their freedom, "I'm almost there. I'm going to try and bring back help, sir. I want you to hold that thought."  
  
The hole was large enough to crawl through and she struggled a little getting out, being numb didn't help much and neither did the fact that she was sure she had done something nearly as bad to her leg as the Colonel had done to his. It took a great deal of effort to crawl out and stand, looking around the world. Ice and snow, nothing but ice and snow. She walked around a little, turning around, hoping to find some evidence of green land. There was none. It was a barren, empty tundra.  
  
"Colonel," she sighed into her radio, "It's an ice planet. That's all there is as far as the eye can see." She closed her eyes in frustration, shaking her head "no chance," she breathed into the radio.  
  
There was no answer, she slid in the hole further. "Colonel!" Still, no answer. "I'm coming down."  
  
She began to climb down and lost her footing, falling painfully down the icy tunnel and falling onto the cold, hard ground, inches away from her CO. "Colonel?" She crawled over to him, "Colonel?"  
  
"Sara," he whispered.  
  
"I'm here Jack," she said, hoping to bring him some comfort, but at the same time feeling jealous.  
  
"Cold," he said quietly. "It's cold."  
  
"I know," she said, fighting back tears, "it's alright. You can sleep now." He closed his eyes and was out. "It was an honor to serve with you to, sir." And then she herself fell into a cold, dreamless slumber.  
_  
"Sam?" Came a panicked voice from Daniel's mouth, only it wasn't his voice. "Sam?"  
  
That was when she realized that it wasn't Daniel calling out to her, it was Jack. She opened her eyes, squinting in the darkness to see him. "Jack?"  
  
"You were having a dream, calling out for a Colonel."  
  
She smiled, "It was you, Jack," she told him sitting up in the bed.  
  
"That's what I thought." He was silent for a moment, "You know. I had a dream, too."  
  
"Oh, yeah? What about?"  
  
"Being in Antarctica. When you and I got stuck at the other 'gate."  
  
Her smile grew. She could tell it was confusing him. "That's what I was dreaming about."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah, so you remember just what you dreamed or the whole thing."  
  
"The whole thing. It's coming back quicker now, this cabin idea is really working."  
  
She yawned, stretching out her arms. "What time is it?"  
  
He looked at his watch, "0325 hours."  
  
"Ugh," she grunted. "Go back to bed, Jack. It's too early to be talking about dreams."  
  
He smiled at her, "All right. Goodnight again, Sam."  
  
"Night."  
  
He left the room and she laid back down, falling asleep within five minutes.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
He woke up around 5 hours later, almost 0830 hours. She was still asleep and he decided that he would let her catch up on what was probably much needed rest, so he went against their deal and made breakfast.  
  
While he was making the pancakes she quietly walked into the kitchen, running a hand through her short, blonde hair. She yawned and smiled at him sleepily. As she sat down at the dinning room table he poured her a cup of coffee and she took it thankfully. "I was supposed to make breakfast," she said after taking a sip.  
  
"You were sleeping still," he replied with a shrug, "I thought I'd let you rest."  
  
"You have anymore dreams?" She inquired, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
He shook his head and flipped the pancake. "Nope, that was it."  
  
"What exactly did you dream about?"  
  
"Broken ribs. Mine in particular." He pressed down on the top of the pancake, cooking it faster. "Let's see, in my dream you were sleeping on top of me, and it hurt just a bit."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I appoligized for that, right?"  
  
"Only about 10 times."  
  
She smiled, "Well, I dreamed about climbing to the surface."  
  
He placed the pancake on the plate where the others were. "Well, breakfast is done."  
  
She nodded and got up from the table, "Where are your plates at?"  
  
He directed her to the cabinet next to the fridge and she got them two plates out. She took a pancake and some eggs and sat back down at the table. He fixed a plate for himself and sat down across from her. They ate in relative silence.  
  
"So, what do you say to fishing today?" He asked, smiling.  
  
"You do whatever you want to," she told him, taking a bite of her eggs. "But I'm going swimming."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
A/N: Sorry it's taken so long! The computer that has the internet (which is downstairs) was screwed up for what seemed like forever, so I've been void of e-mail, messenger, fanfiction, everything forever! But, I've been working on it upstairs in my room, just for you guys! Tell me what'cha think about this chapter. It's not exactly the best so far, but oh well.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Eleven  
  
Summary: For every action...  
  
Disclaimer: Well, after ten other chapters I don't think it's going to change much. I didn't claim them in the first; I don't claim them in the eleventh.  
  
XXXX  
  
He had, of course, fished the whole day. She was thankful that she had brought a bathing suit just in case, because if she had to fish for even another hour she was sure she would loose that brilliant mind he always referred to, which would be tragic. So, while he fished she swam, or just waded in the water. After a few hours she got out to sunbathe, all the while he kept fishing. Although, every now and then she would catch him rubbernecking, since she was laid out behind him.  
  
"Something I can do for you, Jack?" She asked the last time he did so.  
  
"Nope," he said with a smile, "nope. You're doing enough already."  
  
She smiled at him and closed her eyes again, sighing as the sun beat down on her. That was basically how the rest of the day went, until the sound of a growling stomach could be heard. Sam opened eyed the back of Jack's head, waiting. It wasn't even fifteen seconds before he turned around and their eyes met.  
  
"You're hungry?" She asked, grabbing a towel, preparing to go inside.  
  
He smiled sheepishly and nodded, "That loud?"  
  
She returned the nod and threw her legs over the side of the deck, into the water, so that she was sitting with the sun on her back instead of her face. Grabbing her sunglasses and slipping them on she pulled her feet back out of the water and stood on the dock, her towel draped over her arm. She tied it around her waist and began to walk back to the cabin, Jack following behind. "If you want I can make something," she offered as she opened the door to the cabin.  
  
He began to scrunch up his face but caught himself in time, "Uh, I was planning on pizza."  
  
She shrugged, "Pizza is fine."  
  
He called and they waited the hour until the pizza arrived, then sat on the back deck and ate while the sun went down behind the lake.  
  
"It's so beautiful out here," Sam said with a sigh.  
  
He only nodded and took another bite of his pizza, watching the sun as it disappeared behind the water. Neither of them spoke while the stars came out, but as the night started to get darker Jack fidgeted in his seat.  
  
"I remember her now," he said softly, tracing imaginary objects on the surface of the patio table.  
  
"Hmm?" She asked, having been only paying half attention. "Who?"  
  
He looked up from the table and their eyes met, "Janet."  
  
"Oh," she replied, a knowing look passing through her eyes. "How much do you remember?"  
  
He smiled sadly, "Napoleonic power monger ... I remember everything."  
  
"I'm sorry Jack," she said to him, unable to keep eye contact.  
  
He went back to tracing on the table, "Why? You had to go through more than I did."  
  
"But, I didn't have to go through it twice."  
  
She could see that it was having more of an effect on him than he was letting on, the situation had suddenly become awkward, neither of them really wanted to talk about the death of one of their best friends. "When did you remember?" She finally asked, after a few minutes of silence.  
  
He still hadn't looked back up, "On the way up here," his voice was scratchy, he continued on. "It was about an hour before we actually made it to the cabin, I was going through my truck just in case something would jog my memory. There was a picture, her, you, and Cassie. When I thought about it I remembered that it was Cassie's 16th birthday party, it all came back from there. I would've told you sooner, but I didn't want to bother you."  
  
"Bother me?" She asked, feeling a bit offended. "Jack, no matter what you remember, I want to know about it. The more you talk about the past the quicker it's going to come back to you. And, while you could talk to yourself, I'm sure talking to me would have more of a positive outcome. Ok?"  
  
He nodded to himself, "Ok."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
He looked up at her, their eyes locked. "Are you sure?"  
  
She nodded slowly, "If it helps you, I'm sure."  
  
"Ok," he said softly, "where do we start?"  
  
She shook her head, "I'm not sure. What was one of the first things that you remembered? What sticks out in your mind the most?"  
  
"Then, uh, incident after P3X-797, when we were 'touched'. She came into the room I was in to give me painkillers, I asked for more. There was this look of concern in her eyes; she was really worried about us. She hadn't been working at the SGC long then, but she didn't want to experiment on me with the drugs ... she was more concerned for me than finding a quick and easy method to fix things. It surprised me, ya know?"  
  
"Yeah," she replied, "the first time we met she was so nervous, it was actually her first day on the job and she had just been told about the Stargate. We talked for a little bit, I told her about a few of the missions we had already gone on, which we hadn't gone on many. Then, SG-5 came back early, Jaffa hot on their trail. Captain Morgan was hurt pretty badly, she was called to the infirmary, and I followed her. It was instantaneous, the change she went through when he got there, she was barking out orders at everybody. If it hadn't been such a horrible situation I might have found it funny. She was so dedicated to her job. What else did you remember?"  
  
He smiled, "After I gave Cassie that dog, she came over. She was pretty upset, said I should have asked her first, how were they supposed to keep a dog with her work schedule? I finally got her calmed down, told her that I was sorry, I hadn't been thinking about that. Then, Cassie peeked inside from the front door and she softened, then apologized for yelling. I invited them to stay, ordered pizza, and found an old Disney movie of Charlie's and put it on. She was so excited about that movie; Janet kind of just sat there with this overwhelmed look on her face. The movie had been on for about half an hour when we went into the kitchen to talk. She told me how unsure she was about looking after Cassie, she didn't think she would be a good mother. Cassie came in and asked Janet to watch the movie with her, she was lonely. Before Janet went into the living room I told her she would do just fine."  
  
"She was a wonderful mother," Sam agreed. "She loved Cassie so much."  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Jack spoke again. "How is she doing? Cassie?"  
  
"She's doing good, she loves it at school, she'll be by for the week of Thanksgiving. She wanted to come sooner, to see you, but she couldn't get away from her classes and she has work. I told her though, about coming to the cabin. She's taken over her mom's position, always nagging me about the things Janet would. She told me it was about time I came."  
  
"She was right," he sighed, taking a sip of his-until then-untouched beer.  
  
"So," she asked quietly, drawing the word out. "What other memories have you not told me about?"  
  
He cleared his throat nervously, looking down at his hands. "Bits and pieces of my life before the SGC, I remember Sara and Charley, some of my war experiences, almost my whole life up until I went through the 'Gate. It's everything after that that's taken all this time, maybe because it's a bit more complicated. I don't know. But, I remember things like that time on P3X-595 when you-"  
  
"Ah! No repeating that!"  
  
He smiled, "Why not? That was a good mission."  
  
She glared at him and he continued on. "Uh, other missions... I remember Urgo."  
  
She chuckled, "Ah, how could one forget Urgo? He was really annoying but that pie did taste really good. I kinda miss the guy."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, much like Teal'c would.  
  
She shrugged, "I said 'kinda'."  
  
"I remember the clone thing, those Tok'ra arm bands, and a few other things. Of course, I remember Thor, the Nox, all the dead Goa'ulds, the alternate reality deal. You know, stuff like that."  
  
"Well, keep talking. Dr. Brightman said that's the best thing to do, talk. It'll help you remember."  
  
He nodded, "How 'bout we walk a little?"  
  
"Sure," she said with a smile. They each stood and walked down the back deck and onto the ground, beginning to walk around lake as they had the day before. It was a little chilly so Sam wrapped her arms around her body, in an attempt to trap in body heat. "Let's talk about the arm bands, what do you remember about them?"  
  
"That Tok'ra who looked a lot like the darker haired Barbie doll, having a serious case of the munchies, getting in that fight at O'Mallys. The whole mission, you getting stuck behind that force shield thingy..." he trailed off, getting caught up in his own thoughts. A frown appearing on his face, causing his forehead to crinkle and his eyebrows to furrow.  
  
She stopped walking and grabbed hold of his arm, very gently, to stop him. "What else?" She asked, staring up into his eyes.  
  
His voice was low and husky; she could barely make out what he was saying. "The ... za'tarc testing, I remember that."  
  
She stepped closer, not sure what she was doing, never breaking eye contact with him and at the same time trying to talk herself into turning away. Telling herself to drop the subject and keep walking, oh yeah alarms were going off. "What about the za'tarc testing, Jack?"  
  
She watched his adams-apple bulge as he gulped. "All of it," he said softly.  
  
A breeze passed by, and she instantly regretted not wearing a sweater. She shivered but didn't move, nor did she acknowledge that she was cold, she just continued to look at Jack, who was also still her CO. The alarms were getting louder and more annoying. She pushed them away and stepped closer. There was barely half an inch between the two and she was beginning to warm up.  
  
"Sam..." he said slowly, "we promised."  
  
"Shh," she whispered, "I know."  
  
He leaned in closer and got close enough so that she could feel his breath on her skin, she was definitely warming up. His eyes flashed and he inched closer. Right when she could make out every pore in his skin a shrill ring tore her out of the moment. She closed her eyes and sighed in frustration, why had she left that one?  
  
He pulled back, a look of frustration on his own face, annoyance dancing in his eyes. But, as the phone rang for the second time that look disappeared and she answered it with hesitance. "This is Carter," she sighed into the phone. Whoever it was better have a damn good reason for calling.  
  
It was Daniel. He spoke with a panicked, hurried voice. "Sam? We have a situation up here. It's not good, not good at all."  
  
"Slow down, Daniel." She said trying to calm him, "What is the situation?"  
  
Jack had been looking away until then. His head snapped around and he was glaring at her, a questioning look now dancing in his eyes. He opened his mouth to talk but she held up a hand to stop him as she listened to what Daniel was saying.  
  
"It's the 'Gate, Sam. Siler doesn't know what the hell is wrong with it and he's the only other person besides you who can really fix anything remotely as complex." He paused for air, "The dialing device is stuck, on chevron 4, it's been like that for over 40 minutes. Is there not a rule for these things?"  
  
She smiled and chuckled to herself.  
  
"I don't see what's so funny, Sam. This is a crisis."  
  
She shook her head, still laughing. "Put Siler on the phone, Daniel."  
  
"Sure, whatever." There was a pause and Daniel said "she wants to talk to you." Then Siler's voice came through the cellular device, "Yeah?"  
  
"You tried unplugging it, then plugging it back up?"  
  
He paused and she could swear she heard the sound of him scratching his head. Then, "Oh ... yeah."  
  
"Sometimes the hardest problems have the easiest answers, Siler. Don't worry about it."  
  
"Right, thanks Colonel."  
  
"No problem, goodbye Sargent." She hung up the phone and hung her head low, shaking it. "Those men," she said, "I swear. Leave them on their own for 2 days and their already panicked."  
  
He didn't answer her, instead began to walk again. She followed, quickening her pace and getting into step with him. "About what happened?," she asked.  
  
He kept walking, "What about it?"  
  
She shook her head, "Never mind." If he was going to ignore it, so was she.  
XXXX  
  
A/N: Sorry it took so freaking long! It took me forever to finish this chapter, good God it gave me more trouble than any of them have so far. Anyhow, let me know how you like it so far. I hope I'm not loosing your interest, although I threw in that last part in hopes of keeping it, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the real shippiness. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Twelve  
  
Summary: Jack and Sam spend the day in town, Sam confronts Jack about the night before.  
  
Disclaimer: Uh, not mine?  
  
Authors Note: UGH! I believe that computers were the devils doing! Damned things, they're so frustrating. Anyway, on top of computer problems I was out of the state this past weekend, so yeah, I'm starting on the next chapter a couple days later than I should have. Well, anyway, here it goes.  
  
XXXX  
  
Sam slumped down on the couch, grunting. It had been roughly an hour since he had gone to sleep, but for the life of her she just wasn't tired, at all. And, no matter how hard she tried, sleep was fleeting. Not that she minded, she could use the time, she had a lot of thinking to do.  
  
God, why is he so damn stubborn?, she thought, burrowing her face in one of the sofa's pillows. He hadn't mentioned what had happened before Daniel called, and she got the impression that he wouldn't be anytime soon. Which confused her to no end, because she was usually the one pretending like nothing had happened. Damn his ego.  
  
She wasn't sure what time it was, nor did she care. It was pitch black when she stepped out on the back porch, so she knew it had to be late. She could see a faint light coming from the room that Jack was sleeping in, he must have forgotten to turn something off. She settled into one of the lawn chairs and turned her gaze upward at the vast, velvety darkness of the sky. She found herself missing it back at the SGC and was beginning to long to go on a mission, any mission. Staying here, vacationing, was driving her nuts.  
  
The frustration of the day came crashing down and she no longer longed for the feeling going off world gave her. Instead, she longed to talk with him about what had happened, to make sense of what was going on. She wanted to know why he had been ignoring the situation; it wasn't like him at all.  
  
She had called Daniel back, not long after Jack had gone to sleep. Apparently, the 'Gate was up and running again, and had been ever since Siler got off of the phone with her. One of the first things out of his mouth was "when are you coming back?", Sam just laughed and said that no matter what, she was always a phone call away. It seemed to make Daniel feel a little more comforted. Then, he put Teal'c on the phone, he had something to talk with her about.  
  
"Colonel Carter, I have information about Peter Shannahan."  
  
"Oh?" She asked, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "What about him?"  
  
"He has attempted to reach you at the SGC on more than one occasion. What would you have me say to him?" His concern was genuine, of course, why would it be otherwise. "I do not wish to speak with him a-gain, Colonel Carter."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh at his discomfort with the situation, "The next time he calls tell him that I'm not here and that even I was I wouldn't speak with him. You can also tell him never to call again and any add ins that you would like. Doesn't really matter to me, if you want to be threatening, go right ahead."  
  
"As you wish, Colonel Carter." He had said, then she went back to her conversation with Daniel, who had teased her about the entire situation.  
  
She was surprised when the sky began to lighten up and she could see the sun peak over the horizon line. How long had she been sitting out there? It must have been after 2 when she first went onto the back porch; it had to be around 6 at the moment. It didn't seem like four hours, she must have been lost in her thoughts. There were a great many things plaguing her mind, some good and some not so much. More of the latter than the former.  
  
When she made her way into the kitchen there was a light in the hallway on, Jack must have waken up already. She started a pot of coffee and let the aroma fill the air, keeping her awake. It was useless, however, and by the time the coffee was finished she was curled up on the sofa, quietly dozing, a light blanket draped over her legs and stomach.  
  
It was bright by the time she began to wake, the sun had peaked through the windows and was beating down on her, warming her skin. She yawned and stretched out her arms, still lying on the couch. Lazily she pushed the blanket off of her legs and slid off of the couch, her feet hitting the soft, squishy carpet. Yawning again she walked out of the house and onto the back deck, not surprisingly Jack was sitting in the same chair he had sat in the two days prior, fishing. He turned when he heard the screen door shut and smiled at her.  
  
"Good afternoon," he called out, motioning her to come closer.  
  
She smiled sheepishly, "I didn't actually go to bed until this morning, so it's not that bad." She sat next to his chair on the dock and slid her feet into the water. "How long have you been awake?"  
  
"Since around six, been fishing ever since."  
  
"Yeah?" She looked up at him, squinting at the bright sun; "You catch anything yet?"  
  
He smiled, "Ha, ha." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I was thinking about going into town today, you up for it?"  
  
"What's in town?" She asked, kicking her feet back in forth in the cool water.  
  
He shrugged, "Just some stores, a nice café, just something different to do. I figured maybe you'd like to shop, do the girly thing."  
  
She raised her eyebrows, "'The girly thing?' And, what exactly would that be?"  
  
"You know," he said, shrugging once again, "shopping for clothes, shoes, purses."  
  
She smiled, "I could use a new purse..."  
  
"Ah ha," he said, lying his fishing pole on the dock next to his chair. "See, I was right."  
  
"Ok, so? When are we going to go?"  
  
"As soon as you get ready, I guess." He stood from his chair and began to walk back to the house. She pulled her legs out of the water and followed him.  
  
XXXX  
  
Jack's truck pulled into a parking space in front of a café called Adeline's. It was a cute little place, with metal tables and chairs outside and wooden ones in. "I figured you'd want to eat first," he explained as he held the door to the shop open, allowing her to pass and enter first. "That way you can walk off the calories."  
  
She smiled and they stood in line behind a couple with a young, blonde boy. He smiled up at Jack, who waved back at him. The little boy giggled and clung to the leg of a woman Sam assumed was his mother, still beaming at the two strangers behind him. The mother turned to see what her son was grinning at and smiled politely at the two before turning back around to order.  
  
When it was their turn to order Sam got a ham sandwich and Jack got a roast beef sandwich. They chose to eat outside, since the weather was nice, only about 75 degrees with a few clouds littering the sky. While they ate they shared an idle conversation, talking about some of Jack's memories, the better ones. By the time they were finished with lunch Sam was smiling at one of his many jokes, which happened to be not funny at all. Somehow, though, she couldn't help herself. Maybe it was the enthusiasm with which he told them that caused a smile to tug at the corners of her lips, maybe it was just because she wanted him to think he was funny; otherwise he would just feel like an idiot. No matter what, in the end, she always smiled.  
  
They walked from store to store, window shopping mostly. Somewhere after the Bath and Body Works that she made him stop at their hands had become intertwined, much like the other night when they had been walking around the lake. Again, neither acknowledged the fact as soon as they realized it, instead kept walking and shopping. When they went into the next store they let go of each others hands but his hand found its way to the small of her back, she shivered at the touch. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice.  
  
It had begun to get dark by the time they made it back to Jack's truck. She had succeeded in buying some new lotion as well as the body wash that went with it, the fragrance was black raspberry vanilla. She had also found a pair of jeans on sale, a purse, and a pair of sandals. Jack, on the other hand, bought a hockey jersey and that was it.  
  
"How about a movie?" He asked as he threw his bag in the back of his truck. "There's an old drive-in theater not too far from here."  
  
"Sure," she said, doing the same with her bags. "What's out?"  
  
He shrugged, "I guess we'll wait and see."  
  
It took ten minutes to get to the theater, which had a total of three other cars in front of its huge screen. From what Sam could tell two of the cars belonged to young couple, and the other had an older, gray-haired couple in it. She guessed there must be some sort of classic coming on, so they ventured out to see it.  
  
They paid to get in and he parked his truck away from the other cars, then rummaged around through the back seat. "Ah ha!" He cried, pulling a blanket out, "I knew I had one back here."  
  
"Jack," she said getting out of the truck, "what movie is playing?"  
  
He smiled at her and got out of the truck, then spread the blanket out on the ground. "Just wait and see."  
  
She sat next to him on the blanket, pulling on the jacket that she had brought with her. As the night plunged into darkness the screen turned on. She was surprised to find out she had been correct, by the beginning titles she could tell it was an older movie. When the credits began to start she gasped. How did he know?  
  
She looked over at him, a smile was dancing in his eyes. "Jack?" She asked, "Who told you?"  
  
The smile traveled from his eyes and a wide grin spread across his face, he shrugged. "Just a little birdy."  
  
"It was Daniel, wasn't it? How did he know? The only person who knows this is my favorite movie is..." she trailed off, ending her sentence short. He seemed to understand who she was talking about.  
  
He shook his head, "Not him."  
  
"Well, who?"  
  
"Dad told me, God it must have been four years ago. It's always been one of my favorites, so I remembered."  
  
"Really?" She was shocked to say the least, "You like 'Singing in the Rain'."  
  
"It's a classic, I love the classics."  
  
"I never figured you the classical type, especially since your favorite television show is 'The Simpson's'."  
  
He shrugged, "I'm a complex guy."  
  
The movie began and she turned her attention towards the big screen. It was beginning to get chilly; she was starting to wish she had brought a heavier jacket along. She shivered and pulled the jacket tighter across her chest, but it didn't warm her any. Jack must have noticed her shiver because he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders; she leaned into him and instantly began to warm. Leaning her head against his chest they watched the movie in silence.  
  
When it was over she sheepishly pulled away, standing up. They got their things together and then headed back for the cabin. It was a 20-25 minute drive, which left time to talk, although Sam wasn't sure the topic she had in mind was the brightest thing to bring up. Nonetheless, she told herself, it needs to be discussed.  
  
So, when they had been driving for about five minutes she turned the radio off, unbuckled her seatbelt, and turned to face him. "Jack..." she began, "we need to talk."  
  
XXXX A/N: Ok, so... there's the next chapter. Tell me what'cha think about it, all right? I love feedback (especially the good kind) 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Thirteen  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, they don't belong to me.  
  
A/N: Well, yeah, I know she probably wouldn't take off her seatbelt. But since I'm writing the story and know that they're not gonna get into a terrible accident during any of my chapters, it doesn't really make a difference. So, yeah... wear your seatbelts everybody!  
A/A/N: This is my favorite chapter, so be warned, lots of shippyness.  
  
XXXX  
  
"About what?" Jack asked, feigning ignorance.  
  
She ignored the question. "We can't keep pretending like nothing's going on Jack. I did it before, and now you're doing it. As long as one of us acts like everything is all right then how will we ever move further?"  
  
There was a confused look on his face, "What do you mean?"  
  
"Damn it, Jack! Stop!" She yelled, frustrated by his attempts to end the discussion.  
  
He sighed, "Not in the truck, Sam. When we get back to the cabin."  
  
She said nothing further, instead sat back in her seat and put her seatbelt back, and stared ahead at the road. She could feel his eyes on her, but she would not look over at him. Pissed was a very good word to describe how she felt at that moment, not because he wanted to wait for the conversation, but because of how he had acted when she began it. He knew damned well what she wanted to talk about! He wasn't an idiot, although sometimes she would beg to differ.  
  
After a few minutes of sitting in uncomfortable, awkward silence she leaned over and turned the radio on. When a song she recognized came on she turned the volume up and the music filled the air, pushing the awkwardness of the silence away for awhile.  
  
_There are places I remember,  
All my life though some have changed.  
Some forever not for better,  
Some have gone and some remain._  
  
"The Beatles, Sam?" Jack asked. She nodded her head, but didn't look at him.  
  
_All these places have their moments,  
With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living,  
In my live I've loved them all.  
  
But of all these friends and lovers,  
There is no one compares with you.  
And these memories loose their meaning  
When I think of love as something new  
Oh I know I'll never loose affection  
For people and things that went before  
I know I"ll often stop and think about them,  
In my life I love you more.  
_  
She could feel him watching her again. Keeping her eyes looking ahead she turned the music up louder.  
  
_Oh I know I'll never loose affection  
For people and things that went before  
I know I'll often stop and think about them  
In my life I love you more.  
In my life I love you more._  
  
The song ended and a song she didn't know came on, but she didn't turn the music down. Jack did, however.  
  
"Since when do you listen to the Beatles?"  
  
"How do you know I've not always listened to the Beatles, Jack?" She shot him a look, "You don't know everything about me, you know?"  
  
"You're right," he sighed. "But I'd like to."  
  
"Oh, brother." She muttered under her breath. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not, but he didn't continue on with the conversation. And, the uncomfortable, awkward silence once again filled the atmosphere.  
  
XXXX  
  
When they pulled up in front of the cabin she held her breath, what was she getting herself into? Why had she even started that conversation, what was she thinking? He was still her CO, it was still against the regs. She was such an idiot.  
  
She stayed in the truck while he got out and walked towards the cabin. When he reached the front porch he turned around and looked at her, she could see his right eyebrow raise adding onto the questioning look on his face._Yeah, yeah_, she thought, _I'm coming._  
  
She got out of the truck and slowly began to walk towards the cabin, taking deep breaths with every footstep. She followed him into the cabin and he led her to the couch in the living room. She sat down next to him, although she made sure to leave a bit of space between them. He looked at her, waiting for her to speak, and she took a deep breath.  
  
"About the other night..." she began, "before Daniel called."  
  
"We almost kissed," he said nonchalantly, as if it was a regular occurrence.  
  
"Yeah, that." She spit out, earning a questioning look from him. "You act like there was nothing wrong with it, Jack."  
  
"There was something wrong with it?" He asked, to her the question appeared genuine.  
  
"Everything was wrong with it!" She nearly shouted. Calming herself down she looked at her hands, picking at the fading nail polish on her fingernails. "It's against the regs, Jack."  
  
He scooted closer and put his arm around her shoulder, "I know."  
  
She pulled away, out of his embrace, and off of the couch. Standing in the middle of the room she glared at him, anger rising. "Stop it!" She yelled at him, "Just stop it!" She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, "Please don't do that."  
  
He was confused, "Don't do what?"  
  
"Touch me! I can't... it's too much. We need to talk first, just talk, nothing else." Her eyes pleaded with him, "Got it?"  
  
"If you say so," he said, not even attempting to hide the hurt in his voice. She winced and walked into the kitchen, he followed her and they sat at the table, opposite from each other.  
  
"I'm sorry," she sighed, not daring to look into his eyes. "I know that was harsh, but... it was necessary."  
  
He was silent.  
  
"It's just, I want to talk about this before anything happens. We have to know what we're getting into, if we're even going to get into something. I don't want to start something, ruin my career, things not work out, and then have neither a career nor... you. You understand?" She looked up at him, finally, only to have him look away.  
  
"I understand," he said softly. "Please, continue."  
  
"First of all... I need to know where you stand. I need to know how you feel."  
  
He looked up at her, his brown eyes sparkling. "You know where I stand, Sam."  
  
"No," she shook her head, "I want to hear it from you. I need to hear it from you, it's precautionary."  
  
"I tell you then you tell me?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"My feelings for you are simple, Sam. I love you."  
  
She had been expecting to hear those three words, but she hadn't been expecting the effect they would have on her. It literally took away her breath, leaving her struggling for air. They locked eyes and she felt herself shiver, though it had to be 75 degrees in the cabin. Her hands were shaking and her throat was scratchy as she stared at him. She could do nothing more, everything she had planned on saying was lost to her. Words were fleeting, it was like her mind had completely shut down.  
  
"Uh..." he said after a few minutes, "don't leave me hanging her, Sam."  
  
She cleared her throat, "I ... uh ... wow." Was all she could come up with.  
  
He laughed, nervously. "Yeah ... wow."  
  
She smiled weakly at him, her heart feeling like it was beating a thousand beats per minute. She could feel and hear it pounding in her chest and wondered if he could as well. She took a deep breath before saying anything further, thankful that her vocabulary had finally returned. "How do I beat that?" She questioned, then before giving him a chance to reply spoke again. "I don't really know what else to say, Jack, except that I love you, too. I know that seams a little ... monotonous, but that's how I feel."  
  
Jack was silent for a moment, then he spoke, stumbling over his words like she had. "I ... uh ... wow." She smiled at him and he smiled back. "Not monotonous, you could never be anywhere near monotonous. And I gotta tell you, that phrase never gets old."  
  
She smiled at him, but then remembered why they were having that discussion. Her expression sobered, "Now we know for certain how we feel about each other. The only question that remains is what are we going to do about it? Or, rather, what can we do about it?"  
  
It was his turn to breath deeply, "I could always retir-"  
  
"I would never ask you to leave your job. Besides, although you don't like to think so you're very important to program." It was her turn to be selfless, "I could always resign from the military, go back to my scientific roots, work with the SGC as a scientist. Or, more formally, the resident expert on the Stargate and co-creator of the DHD. It seemed to work in every other reality."  
  
He shook his head, "You love being in the military, Sam. And besides, when I do retire I'm gonna need somebody to take over for me."  
  
"And you think I'm going to be that person?" She questioned, then caught herself. "No getting off subject, Jack." She scolded him.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
She smiled, "We could always keep it a secret."  
  
He gasped, "Colonel Carter I am shocked that you would even suggest such a thing." He smiled at her playfully, "Rebel."  
  
She shrugged, "Just a suggestion. You got a better one?"  
  
"Of course," he said confidently.  
  
"Please," she replied, "have at it."  
  
"Wait, first I'm gonna tell you why you're idea is such a bad one."  
  
"Pray tell?"  
  
"Well, first of all, Danny-boy and T would know in an instant, they're not idiots, you know? Not that they would tell anybody, of course, but when spacemonkey gets tipsy he runs off at the mouth. No secret is safe when he's around alcohol... even just a little bit of the stuff. Teal'c, well, he would never tell, in fact he would probably take it to his grave. But, that's not the point here."  
  
"I'm beginning to think that there isn't one," she joked.  
  
"Wait just a second," he scolded, "patience is a virtue you know." He smiled at the face she made. "The real point is I would never be able to keep it a secret, the words would be written all over my face. Trust me, everybody would know. And, you would have a hard time keeping it a secret too, or at least I hope you would."  
  
"So what is your plan, O brilliant one?"  
  
He smiled, "Simple. Just a simple request to the President and-"  
  
She cut him off, "The President?!?"  
  
"Sure," he said, trying not to laugh at the look on her face. "Why not? I mean, we have saved the lives of everybody on this planet ... more than once, hell more times than I can remember. Which, of course, really doesn't say much at this exact point in time... I still have a few blanks every now and then. But, come on, don't you think the man owes us a favor? I mean, isn't changing the regs, just for the SGC mind you, the least that he could do to show his gratitude?"  
  
She thought it over, "Well, yeah. I guess that's a good point."  
  
"Ah ha!" He shouted triumphantly, "Told you my idea was better than yours."  
  
She raised an eyebrow, "How old are we again?"  
  
He frowned, "We'll not go into that."  
  
She smiled at him, "So, old man, what now?"  
  
He smirked, standing up from the table and walking over to her. Pulling her into his arms he whispered, "Now ... I kiss you."  
  
Before she could reply his lips were on hers, and her once again all her breath escaped her body. Pulling away she took a deep breath, a smile spreading across her face, reaching farther than anyone would think was possible. He smiled back and cupped her face in his hands, "God, I've wanted to do that forever."  
  
She smiled, "Guess we better make up for lost time then, huh?"  
  
Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him closer and their lips connected again. The kiss was passionate and hungry, leaving her breathless for a different reason. When the kiss broke she pulled back, out of his arms, taking hold of his hands. She pulled him along with her, into his bedroom, and kissed him again.  
  
She sat down on the bed and pulled him with her. She scooted back, towards the pillows, and he followed.  
  
He kissed her again, but pulled away. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, hovering over her.  
  
"I've never been so sure in my life," she replied. Pulling him closer and into another deep, passionate kiss.  
  
XXXX  
  
She stirred in her sleep, half-awake, and scooted closer towards the warm body on her left. He mumbled and wrapped an arm around her waist protectively. Smiling to herself, she snuggled closer into his chest.  
  
The sun was beginning to rise and the room was starting to brighten, she peaked over his shoulder and looked out the window. There was a beautiful view of the lake, a small bit of reddish-orange peaking over the waterline. It was beautiful, perfect. She looked back at the man she was snuggled against. There was a crease in his forehead and his jaw was clenched, he was perfect.  
  
She looked out the window again and figured it must be 0730, maybe a little bit earlier. He mumbled again, incoherently, and she stifled a giggle. She would never have guessed he talked in his sleep.  
  
Tracing imaginary objects on his chest she waited for him to wake. When that didn't work she placed small kisses leading from his cheek to his lips. He finally woke, the tell-tell sign being a smile that spread across his face.  
  
"Mmm," he said sleepily, his eyes still shut.  
  
"Wake up," she whispered, kissing him again. "You wanna go fish?"  
  
His eyes snapped open and that small smile became a large one, "Really?"  
  
She laughed, deep and rich, a smile spreading across her own face. "Really. Come on, don't the big fish bite early?"  
  
He laughed as well and kissed her on the forehead, "Sorry to disappoint you, Sam. But there are no fish."  
  
"Come on, Jack. Don't you have an imagination? Do you have any creativity, at all?"  
  
He pulled her into his arms and rolled over, hovering over her. "I do, believe me, but I can think of something else I'd rather do."  
  
"Later," she said, scooting from under him, and sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked over her shoulder, "I'm gonna take a shower, you coming with?" She searched the floor, looking for something to wear. She finally settled on his T-shirt and grabbed it, pulling it over her head. She glanced back at him again, an eyebrow raised.  
  
He grinned and followed her, pulling on a pair of jeans.  
  
They got to fishing a little bit later than she had originally planned.  
XXXX  
  
A/n: Like I said, my favorite chapter.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Fourteen  
  
Disclaimer: Hmm ... let us think about this one ... ... ... still thinking? Well, if it's taking you that long I'll just answer the question for ya! They don't belong to me!  
  
A/N: This fast food place that's mentioned down here (Pal's) is in fact a real place. I doubt them have them out in Minnesota, because as far as I know they're mostly an East-Tennessee restaurant, though I believe there are some in Kentucky. Anyway, the cheeseburgers there are wonderful, and if you're a sweet-tea kind of person than you'd be in Heaven. Anyway, just a little piece of Tennessee trivia for you. Doesn't mean much, but hey, now you know.  
  
XXXX  
  
It was nearly midnight and Jack and Sam were still awake, lying together on the couch in the cabin's living room. "You do realize," Sam said to him, while playing with the buttons on his shirt, "that you're time is limited now."  
  
"Oh?" He asked, cocking his head to one side, "How come?"  
  
"I've got this black widow curse, no big deal." She shrugged, "Those I get involved with don't tend to last long. It's very depressing."  
  
"I'll say." He sighed, "You really know how to warn a guy, don't 'cha?"  
  
"I do my best," she smiled. She rested her head on his chest, "You think we should head back to the SGC? I know we haven't been gone for the intended amount of days, but I'd kind of like to go back. Even if we don't work." She looked up at him, bright, blue eyes met chocolate, brown ones. "I like it here, trust me, I love it here," she smiled. "But I miss home."  
  
He wrapped his arms around her, "If you want to go home then we'll go home."  
  
Her smile grew and she kissed him, "Thank you, Jack. You won't regret this."  
  
He raised an eyebrow; "I'll hold you to that."  
  
She kissed him again, "Oh?" She pulled back, out of his embrace, and sat on his stomach, straddling his hips. She slid off of the couch, grabbing his wrists and pulling him with her. "I don't think you're gonna have to."  
  
He grinned and allowed himself to be pulled along and into the nearest bedroom.  
  
XXXX  
  
The next day, at around 0800 they gathered their things and packed up Jack's truck. Since it was about a fourteen or fifteen hour drive they decided they would switch about ever three hours, Jack driving the first, third, and fifth and Sam driving those in-between. They figured that they would get home around midnight, or 0100 hours, given time for lunch at a fast-food restaurant, dinner at a sit-down restaurant, and any breaks in-between.  
  
At 1430 hours she was sleeping, her head lying on a pillow that was pushed up against the door. He had turned the radio off to allow her to sleep better, but he could hear her stomach growling. When he saw the next exit with a decent fast food joint he gently shook her awake, asked her if Pal's was all right with her. Although she had never heard of the place she figured it sounded good enough, so she agreed. They ate while they drove, with the radio going and the windows rolled down. Jack smiled when Sam placed her bare feet halfway on the dashboard, halfway out the window. She certainly hadn't done so on the way to his cabin, he wasn't even sure she had taken off her shoes then.  
  
When it was her turn to drive again the radio station changed, from his light rock to (and this surprised him) the oldies. She admitted that the Beatles were one of her favorite groups, followed by Elvis and The Doors. They were all fairly different from each other, but he could understand why she liked the music. He was sure he had a Beatles CD somewhere in his truck and began to search. Finally he found it and put it in the CD player. He fiddled around with the songs until he found one that stood out to him.  
  
He wasn't sure about the beginning lyrics, but he could remember the chorus. When it came along he leaned over in his seat and began to sing to her;  
  
_All I want is you. Everything has got to be just like you want it to..._  
  
She looked over at him and rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to the road as the rest of the song went on. Each time those two sentences turned up he would sing and she would roll her eyes. After the song was over it was her turn to flip through the CD, until she found one she liked. She must have liked the song a lot because she turned the radio up louder, and rolled down the windows.  
  
_...Sweet Loretta Martian thought she was a woman But she was another man All the girls around her say she's got it coming But she gets it while she can.  
Get back, get back Get back to where you once belonged Get back, get back.  
Get back to where you once belonged.  
Get back Loretta. Go home.  
_  
"You know, their music is really strange," he said when she turned the radio back down. She only shrugged in response and let the CD run its course, though the volume was down low enough to where it became nothing more than background noise.  
  
When it neared 1900 hours she suggested that they stop for dinner, then he could resume driving. He agreed and they began to check the exit signs for somewhere that they would both like to eat. When Outback Steakhouse was an option they decided that would be the best thing relatively close so she pulled off on the exit and they went in to eat.  
  
He got a steak and beer while she opted for the Caesar salad with a diet coke. He teased her about her choice of food, but she caught him trying to sneak a bite of her salad, and he found her trying to steal a few French fries, with ketchup. Finally they decided to share and each had a little of both, although she wasn't a fan of medium-rare steak, her motto was no pink. He, of course, had argued saying that when they had the armbands she got a couple of rare steaks, barely even cooked.  
  
"Well," she admitted, "that was an exception. I wasn't exactly 100 my self at that moment, I needed protein."  
  
"That's true," he said. Then noticing her smile added, "Something funny?"  
  
"No, it's just you're remembering so much now. I think that's something worth smiling over, don't you?"  
  
"Well, of course." He held her hand in his own, "It's because of you, you know? I wouldn't remember half of what I do now if you hadn't come with me to the cabin."  
  
"Oh?" She asked, "Is_ that_ why you kept asking me all of those years ago?"  
  
He grinned, "Ok, caught me in that one. But, I never planned on anything remotely like what did happen."  
  
It was her turn to grin, "That was a bit of a ... surprise, wasn't it?"  
  
When it was around 2020 they paid for dinner and took off again, this time Jack was the one behind the steering wheel. It didn't take an hour before Sam was asleep again; she slept until they arrived at his house a little before midnight, at 2354 hours. He gently shook her awake and told her that they had made it home.  
  
"Hmm?" She asked, "Who's home?"  
  
"We're at my place," he whispered, "It's late, I'll take you home tomorrow."  
  
She nodded and sleepily slid out of the car and into his arms, he helped her walk up the walkway to his house, and then he led her into his bedroom and she crashed on the bed. He took off her shoes and socks, and since she was wearing comfortable clothes let her sleep in them, but before he crawled into bed next to her he changed out of his jeans and into drawstring pants.  
  
They slept until after 1100 hours.  
  
XXXX  
  
The sun woke her up; it was shinning through a window and straight onto her eyes. She squinted at the brightness and slid out from under the warm bed, and away from the still sleeping General, who was at that time snoring fairly loud.  
  
She quietly padded through the bedroom and slowly creaked open the door that led to the hallway, then slipped out of the room. It was warm in his house, much warmer than hers was, even so late in the morning. Glancing at her watch she nearly gasped, she rarely ever slept so late, especially after she slept for nearly 1/3 of the way home.  
  
Since it was so late she decided to skip the coffee and made herself a sandwich. Afterwards she went out to his truck and grabbed her bags, determined to shower before he woke. She used the guest bath, figuring that using the bathroom off of his room would wake him up. When she exited the bathroom, steam still visible in the air, he was sitting on the couch in the living room. She plopped down next to him on the sofa and laid her legs out on the extra space on the other side of her.  
  
"What'cha watching?" She asked, glancing at the television.  
  
He shrugged, "Don't know." He flipped the station, then flipped it again. "Oh, hey, I like this show."  
  
She watched for a moment, "What exactly is this show?"  
  
"Come on, you don't know?" When he got no answer he sighed, "Law and Order, Sam. You can't honestly tell me you've never seen it."  
  
She shook her head, "Never seen it. I really don't have the time to watch TV. I've heard of it though."  
  
"Well," he told her, "I'm going to change that. From now on, you watch TV."  
  
She smiled, "I kind of wanted to go check on Daniel and Teal'c."  
  
He sighed, "You just want to check and see how things are going at the SGC, don't you? Come on, Sam. The President let Hammond fill in for me, he's had tons of experience, trust me, things are going just peachy."  
  
"I just want to make sure," she pouted. "Please?"  
  
He sighed, "Fine. But, I'm going to get ready first. And, while I do you have to watch TV."  
  
"Sure thing, Jack." She watched as he walked down the hallway and into his bedroom, then turned her gaze back to the television. The show had been on for a good 45 minutes, so she had no idea what was happening. She searched for the remote, found it, and began to flip through the channels. There were a few home decorating shows on, but she had never really liked those kinds of shows. There were a few sci-fi shows, but after years of living it sci-fi became too ... eerily familiar. She tried to avoid those shows most of the time, unless she was around Teal'c, who was a sci-fi junky. She flipped through the channels until it was 1200 hours, and the programs changed. There was a Law & Order show on, but it was a different one, pegged "SVU", or "Special Victims Unit". She had seen the previews for it before and decided that it looked interesting enough, so she settled for watching it.  
  
It was almost 1230 hours before he came out of the bedroom, towel drying his short hair. He was wearing jeans and a plain, white T-shirt. "I'm going to eat something before we go, ok?" He asked, starting to walk into the kitchen.  
  
"Sure, we can leave at 1300."  
  
He nodded and began to search around his kitchen for something he could make. She went back to the show. Ten minutes later he sat next to her on the couch, a cup in his hand. He took a sip from it, studied the show, and then said "I've already seen this episode."  
  
"Shh," she scolded, taking the cup from his hands. "I haven't." She took a drink, then handed it back to him.  
  
Fifteen minutes later when the credits began to roll she turned off the TV and stood up from the couch, picking her bag up from where it sat next to the sofa. "After we go and check on things at the SGC I need to go to my house, do the laundry, makes sure things are how I left them. That ok?"  
  
"Sure, we can order pizza from there." He picked up his keys from the coffee table and turned towards her; "Are you ready?"  
  
She nodded, "Yeah, let's go."  
  
XXXX  
  
A/N: Yea, Daniel and Teal'c come back in the next chapter, I've missed them. Haven't you? Anywya, let me know what'cha think, feedback keeps me going (and writing quicker) 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Fifteen  
  
Disclaimer: See first fourteen chapters.  
  
XXXX  
  
The drive to the SGC was quiet; there was no need to talk, so they listened to the radio. The first place she headed to when the actually made it into the mountain was her office, which wasn't very surprising to him. He knew she had ulterior motives. Of course, he missed Danny and T too, but he knew she didn't miss them that much. She could have waited until the end of the day to see them, she wanted to work.  
  
He dropped in on Hammond, to see how things were going. The older, bald man was sitting at his old desk, that familiar exhausted expression on his face. He looked at him, surprised, as he entered.  
  
"Jack?" He asked, "You're on downtime for another couple of days, you know?"  
  
He nodded, "I know. We decided to head home." Shrugging, he sat in a chair in front of his desk. "How have things been?"  
  
"Oh," he sighed, "you know. The usual, nothing new for me. I gotta tell you though, I'm going to be thanking the President for my new position when I get back to Washington, don't get me wrong, I miss being here at the SGC. But, I've gotten use to sleeping."  
  
Jack chuckled, "I understand, George. Who's out now?"  
  
"SG's 4, 7, 10, and 17 are currently off world. SG-9 is gearing up for a mission as we speak." He thought to himself for a moment, "Where's Colonel Carter?"  
  
"Where else?" He questioned. "First place she went was her office, she could be anywhere now though."  
  
The other man laughed, "Well, I should be getting back to work, and you should go find Colonel Carter and finish your downtime. Lord knows that you yourself always told her to leave when she had downtime."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighed, "I'm going to find Danny and Teal'c, then I'll make her leave. Have fun, General."  
  
Hammond grinned, "I could say the same to you, General."  
  
Jack eyed him, suspicion creeping in. Did he know? Was that even possible? No, he couldn't, they hadn't talked to anybody since ... but, that look. Finally, he stood from the chair and left the room, headed for her office. There was no way he could know, he told himself, nobody knew. But that look ... he shook his head as he entered the lab. "Sam?" He called out, looking around. She wasn't there. "Great," he mumbled to himself, "now I have to look for her."  
  
The first place he ventured to was Daniel's office, she had told him she wanted to see Daniel, so that was really the most logical answer, right? Well, neither one of them were in Daniel's office, nor when he traveled to Teal'c's quarters were they there. So, he figured that if they weren't in any one of their normal habitats there were only two other places they would all be, at the moment that was. Those two places were the control room and the cafeteria. First he went to the cafeteria, since it was closer. He didn't really expect them to be there since they had eaten before coming. So he wasn't surprised when they weren't there. That left only one place, the control room.  
  
They were, as he had suspected, crowded in the control room. "What'cha doin'?" He asked, stepping beside where Sam was sitting in front of the control panels. She looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"Siler wanted me to check some things out, sir." She reassured, "I'm finished now, though."  
  
He nodded and looked over at Daniel and Teal'c, "What's your excuses?"  
  
Daniel shrugged and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. It was Daniel, however, who spoke. "We followed her."  
  
"You have nothing else to do?"  
  
Daniel's eyebrows furrowed and he looked to Teal'c, "Uhh," he sighed. "No ... not really."  
  
"Well damn," he laughed, "if I had known my leaving would have caused such laziness I might have thought it over twice."  
  
Daniel laughed along with him, shaking his head at the usual humor coming from his friend.  
  
"Well, come on then, let's go find someplace to catch up." Jack said, motioning for the other three to follow him to Sam's office, since the former CO of the SGC currently occupied his. Once at the intended destination they sat down in various seats scattered around the office, one of them at her computer, the other in front of her desk, and two for any visitors she may have.  
  
"So," Daniel asked, glancing between both Sam and Jack. "What did you two do with your time off?"  
  
Jack smiled, "We fished."  
  
"Indeed, we believed that you would." Teal'c told him.  
  
"Well, maybe next time you can tag along."  
  
"No!" Daniel said hurriedly.  
  
"That will not be necessary!" Teal'c called out, the same time as Daniel. The funny thing, though, was the look of horror that passed through the Jaffa's eyes.  
  
"Ok," Jack said, laughing. "Maybe not."  
  
"All you did was fish?" Daniel asked, staring straight at Sam, who, in return, blushed furiously. "Ah," he said with a smile, "not just fishing, I see."  
  
Teal'c glanced between Jack and Sam, "Indeed, Daniel Jackson, I do sense a change between General O'Neill and Colonel Carter."  
  
Daniel, now, was looking at Jack. "So, I'm going to ask you again, what did you do with your time off?"  
  
"That," Jack said, standing up, "is none of your damn business." He looked at Sam, "Are you ready to go?"  
  
Her cheeks were still flushed and she locked eyes with Jack to keep from looking at Daniel, "Yeah, I'm ready. Uh ... I need to go back home, remember."  
  
"Sure you do," Daniel laughed as the two walked out of Sam's office. "I'm going to call you later!" He yelled out to them after they had turned the corner. Sam walked with her head down, looking at the floor, her normally light skin dark crimson.  
  
When they reached the surface his hand slid into hers and he leaned over to whisper into her ear, "What was your brilliant plan again? Keeping it a secret?" He chuckled, "Good luck with it."  
  
She swatted him playfully, leaning close to him as they walked to his truck. "That's not my fault, Daniel was interrogating me."  
  
"For cryin' out loud," Jack exclaimed, "all the man did was ask if we did anything besides fishing. Which, we did go shopping and see a movie, you didn't have to immediately think about the dirty stuff." He slid an arm around her waist, "Come on, Carter. Get your mind out of the gutter."  
  
"Carter?" She asked, looking up at him.  
  
"8 years of programming," he shrugged. "It'll take awhile, plus we're at work."  
  
She climbed into his truck and put on her seatbelt, "We're in the parking lot of the Cheyenne Mountain complex of Peterson Air Force Base, Jack ... not at work."  
  
He shrugged again, "Close enough."  
  
XXXX  
  
The pulled in front of her house and she opened the door and slid out of the truck. Grabbing her bags from the cab she headed for the front door, fishing through her purse for her keys. Stumbling a little on the steps she almost fell but at the last minute caught her balance, pulling her keys out of her bag. She fumbled for the right one, finally found it, and opened her front door. A gush of hot air greeted her, messing with her hair. She ran a hand through it, flipped on a light switch, then turned on the AC. Jack came in the door behind her just as she pressed the "play" button on her answering machine.  
  
"You have 21 new messages ... message 1."  
  
"Sam, it's Pete. Call me, please."  
  
"End of message. Message 2."  
  
"Sammie? It's Mark, Pete called me, and he told me that you broke it off with him. What happened? Call me back when you hear this, ok?"  
  
Sam sighed and sat down on her couch as the messages continued, most of them in the same manor.  
  
"Message 12." The cold, indifferent voice of the answering machine called out.  
  
"Samantha, come on where are you? I've been calling forever. I have a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, and well, since mom is gone I figured I'd come and visit you guys. Call me back when you hear this, you know my number. Love you."  
  
Sam smiled at the sound of Cassie's voice and looked over at Jack as Pete's once again came over the machine.  
  
"Sam ... answer the phone. Come on, when are you going to return my calls? I said I was sorry, what else do you want me to do? Call me back, please. We need to talk."  
  
By Message 17 she had given up and just began to delete the messages without listening to them. If it were that important, she figured, they would call her back. When she was done with that she started a load of laundry and while Jack caught up on 'The Simpson's' she caught up on working on her laptop. It was relatively normal, except for the fact that they were on the same sofa, each at one end with their legs lying in-between them, intertwined.  
  
They stayed that way until the doorbell rang.  
  
XXXX  
  
A/N: I know it's a bit short, but then there's the cliffhanger. Who's at the door??? Is it Pete? Cassie? Daniel? Somebody else? Guess you'll have to wait and find out, won't you? 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Sixteen  
  
Disclaimer: Shouldn't we all know this by now? The show doesn't belong to me, basically every single one of the characters don't belong to me (although, somewhere along there I had a few original characters! Go me!) the idea of the story, however, is fully mine. That I will not give up... don't even ask.  
  
A/N: (Dramatic music in background) DUN DUN DUN! Alright, guys, here's the conclusion... who's at the door? Guess you'll have to read a tiny bit further to find out! You know, that JAG thing never even crossed my mind, would be interesting though. Hmm ...  
  
XXXX  
  
Neither one of them thought much about the doorbell ringing, they both figured that it would be Daniel and Teal'c come to bug them further and question them about their vacation at the cabin, and why Sam had been blushing at the SGC. Of course, tomorrow Jack would have to set up some kind of impromptu meeting with the president, if that was even possible. Neither of them, however, expected who was at the door.  
  
"Dad?!" Sam asked, shocked when she answered the door.  
  
Jack, who had been sitting in the living room at the time she answered the door, immediately stiffened and hastily searched for some plan of escape. He liked Jacob, of course, and it seemed that the man was fond of him. But, Jack wasn't sure how well the General would handle him seeing his daughter, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to act normal around him anymore. After all, it was only around a day in a half since he had slept with his daughter.  
  
"Sammie," the man said, stepping inside and setting his bags down to give his only daughter a hug. "Daniel told me that you would be at home."  
  
_Daniel,_ Jack thought, _he is so dead_.  
  
"Oh, he did?" Sam asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Uh, so ... what brings you to earth, dad?"  
  
They started walking into the living room and Jack stood up from the couch, a nervous smile on his face. "Jake, how you doin'?" He asked, putting his best game face on.  
  
The older man looked at him suspiciously for a couple of seconds, "Good." He said finally, "How's the memory coming?"  
  
"Almost completely back. Sa...Carter has been a big help, wouldn't have been able to do it without her." . _D'oh._ He thought, _Damn my dirty mind_. He smiled again, "So, how're the Tok'ra doing?"  
  
That suspicious look was back in his eyes, Jack should have known not to ask about the Tok'ra, Jacob knew he didn't give a flip about how they were doing. _Idiot_, he told himself. "Have you and the Jaffa worked things out yet, or no?"  
  
Jacob seemed to except the save, "Things are going better than they were, there's still a lot of work to be done."  
  
"Well," Jack said, "I should be going then. Give you two some time to catch up."  
  
He was halfway out the door when Sam called out to him (calling him General, of course).  
  
"General," she said, "I left something at your house."  
  
"When were you at his house?" Jacob asked, looking sternly at Jack.  
  
"Oh," she said, looking at her father. "We got back from Minnesota really late last night, I just stayed there since my car was over here and I didn't want to make the general drive anymore than he had already. I left my cosmetics bag there, I kind of need my toothbrush and shampoo." She shrugged.  
  
"Hmm," Jacob said, eyeing Jack. "I guess you do need that."  
  
"I tell you what," Sam said, still looking at her father. "You get your thing situated in the guest room and I'll drive to the general's house, grab my things, and then come back and we can do whatever. Ok?"  
  
"Sure, Sammie. Hurry though, Selmak still hasn't seen much of earth."  
  
"Right," she nodded, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be back as soon as possible."  
  
She followed him in her car to his house, cursing herself for letting her father catch them in that situation. What had been the situation, really? Was he the least bit curious about why Jack had been at her house? Of course, he didn't even know about her and Pete breaking up, so was it possible that he thought nothing of him being there? But, Jack hadn't exactly been doing the best job at acting normal, not that she blamed him, she still had butterflies in her stomach.  
  
Sighing she pulled out the first CD she could find and put it into the cars stereo system. The CD turned out to be Sarah McLachlan. _Great_, she thought, _Love songs, that's just what I need to be hearing right now.  
_  
In the few minutes it took to get to Jack's house she was doubting herself more and more, how could she hide this from her father? She couldn't hide it from Teal'c and Daniel, how would she hide it from him? She pulled into the driveway of Jack's house and told herself she would be fine, she was good at faking things when she needed to, her job certainly required it enough.  
  
She hadn't been lying when she told her father she had left her cosmetics bag at Jack's, but she hadn't exactly been truthful when she said she needed it. It was her travel bag, mainly for missions. She remembered exactly where it was so it only took her a few seconds to find it. After they she and Jack sat down in the living room, a uncomfortable silence hanging in the air.  
  
"This is a problem," he finally said, not making eye contact.  
  
"Yeah," she agreed. "A big problem."  
  
"How are we going to keep this from him?"  
  
She shook her head, "I don't know. He's really good at figuring out these kinds of things."  
  
"I've been thinking," he said, a serious look on his face.  
  
"You?" She asked, shock in her voice. "Thinking? You could hurt yourself-not to mention those around you- doing something like that you know?"  
  
"You think you're funny," he asked, an amused tone in his voice. "Don't you?"  
  
She smirked, "I _know_ I'm funny."  
  
He laughed and then sobered himself, "No. Really. I've been thinking about what we should do about this ... situation. I'm going to try and reach the president tomorrow, see if we can work this out. So, until we know for sure what's going on, I think we should calm everything down for a little ... so we don't get court martiled for breaking the frat regs, which we've kind of already done."  
  
"I agree," she sighed. "It would be best."  
  
He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her deeply. Her arms came up and around his neck, closing any gap that had existed between the two of them, and melted into the kiss. It lasted for what seemed like forever until they finally pulled apart; panting and gasping for the air that had been cut off from them. They continued to hold each other and her head rested on his shoulder, but she pulled away, grudgingly. "I should get going," she told him solemnly. "Dad will wonder."  
  
"Right, call me later?"  
  
"I will," she kissed him quickly then headed out the door, pausing only briefly to look back.  
  
XXXX  
  
When she returned home her father was sitting in the living room, watching television. "Hey, dad." She greeted him, sitting on the couch next to him. "So, you never told me why you came to earth."  
  
He shrugged, "I had some time off, figured I'd come see how Jack was doing. He said he's got most of his memory back, good for him. What doesn't he remember?"  
  
"Well," she said, "I know that he remembers everything from before his life at the SGC. As far as I know he remembers most of the important things, all the big stand-offs with the Goa'ulds, just about every one of our missions, I think there's just a few blank spaces every now and then, it'll come back to him."  
  
"Hmm," he said, flipping through the channels, "how's Pete?"  
  
"I..." she hesitated, "I'm not sure."  
  
"Did you two have a fight?" He asked, looking over at her.  
  
"I, uh, guess you could say that. We kind of broke up."  
  
"What do you mean kind of?" He asked, she could feel an argument coming on.  
  
"I mean it's over between us," she held up her right hand, showing it void of a ring, "I gave him his ring back. We're finished." She shrugged, "I don't think I ever really loved him anyway." Her father looked at her confused; "He was..." she started, "safe."  
  
_Wow, does that sound eerily familiar_, she thought to herself, _Although at that time it was Jack who was the safe one, guess I was wrong_.  
  
Jacob was concerned for his daughter, "Sam, are you sure you did the right thing? You don't get many chances to be happy you know, what if that was your last one?"  
  
She smiled at him, "Don't worry about me dad, I think I've got a few more chances left."  
  
He didn't understand what she meant by that, but was happy all the same. As long as she hadn't given up hope, he would be all right.  
  
XXXX  
  
"Would you stop that," she whispered harshly into the telephone, "you make me laugh and dad will hear."  
  
She could hear him smile through the phone, "Sorry, sorry."  
  
"So," she said glancing at the door, "when are you going to get in touch with the president?" Hearing a creak in the room next to her she paused, held her breath, and waited for any other sounds. When none came she continued, "I don't like this waiting thing."  
  
"He's a very busy man," Jack said, "as soon as I possibly can."  
  
"Well, just remind him that he owes each of us about 20 favors so far."  
  
"Thanks for the reminder, I would have never thought of that."  
  
"Ha ha," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You are so very funny."  
  
"I do what I can," he said. She could imagine him shrugging on the other end of the phone, flipping through the channels on the television. She smiled to herself thinking about his predictability.  
  
"You still there?" He asked, taking her out of her thoughts.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm here." She paused, hearing the creaking sound again, "Hold on." She whispered into the phone, then set it down and got off of her bed, to look out into the hallway. When she stuck her head out of the door she could hear muffled voices down the hall, in the living room. Her father was talking to somebody, but who?  
  
She went back into her room; told Jack she would call him back later, then walked down the hallway into the living room. She walked slowly, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know who would be at her house during the middle of the night, talking to her father.  
  
As she neared the end of the hallway the voices became clearer, it was a male voice he was talking with, but they were talking so quietly she couldn't tell who it was. When she walked into the living room they had their backs turned to her, but she could tell already who it was.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" She asked, before she could stop herself.  
  
XXXX  
  
Jack waited forty five minutes for her to call back before growing too impatient. He figured he could make up some excuse if for some reason Jacob should answer the phone rather than his daughter. So, he muted the television, picked up the phone, and dialed her familiar number.  
  
She picked up on the second ring; "This is Sam."  
  
"Hey, it's me." He said, thanking God she was the one who answered.  
  
"You need to get over here," she said quickly, a strange tone in her voice. "Now."  
  
"Alright," he answered, confused, "I'm on my way now."  
  
"Good, see you in a few."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed. "In a few."  
  
After hanging up the phone he sat looking at it, that numbing feeling washing over him. The one that he got whenever things got really complicated and confused and he didn't know what the hell was going on. After a minute or so he shook the feeling away, stood up, got his keys, and took off out the door. Boy, did she have some explaining to do.  
  
XXXX  
  
A/N: Here I am again, writing in this little twists and turns. Bet y'all didn't expect Jacob to be the one at the door, and truthfully, it was going to be Pete until all of you guys guessed (although, it was a rather obvious choice). This one's not going to be that easy either. And, you know, if you get it right you get a cookie! Lmao, review please!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Title: John Doe  
  
Chapter: Seventeen  
  
Disclaimer: Really guys, come on, do you think that I actually own them? I mean, think about it, if I did I would be busy writing new episodes, not fanfiction.  
  
A/N: Ok, so maybe this twist wasn't as hard as I thought it would, because a couple of you did guess it. You'll figure out which of you did in just a bit, but I'm going to keep those who didn't guessing by not telling who actually guessed right. Do y'all get that, 'cos I'm confusing myself. Anyway, if you got it right you'll figure out soon, same thing for if you got it wrong. And to those who did get it right, you get a virtual cookie! Kuddos. And, gotta tell you, I liked that Thor idea, it was different, too.  
XXXX  
  
There was a complete silence in the room as the three occupants waited for the fourth to arrive. Sam kept glancing between her father and his guest, an unsure expression on her face, speechless after hearing what they had to say. Her father sat with a smug expression on his face; his counterpart had nearly the same look on his own. They had planned this.  
  
"I want to talk with Sel'mac." Sam said bluntly.  
  
Her father smirked and his eyes flashed, "What is it you wish to discuss with me, Samantha?" He asked.  
  
"Did you help them with this?" She demanded, eyeing him with suspicion.  
  
"Indeed, I did not." Sel'mac assured her, "I did, however, inform your father that on the occasion you figured out their plan you would not be happy with them."  
  
"Damn skippy," she muttered. "How long has this been going on?"  
  
"Many months."  
  
"Even before General O'Neill lost his memory?"  
  
Sel'mac nodded, "Indeed."  
  
The doorbell rang at that exact moment, Sel'mac's eyes flashed and Jacob was once again in control. "I'll answer that," he said when Sam began to stand, "you sit."  
  
She scowled at him and sat back down, "Fine." She folded her arms across her chest, crossed her legs, and sent an evil look to her father's partner in crime. "I'm mad at you, too." She said to him, "Maybe more so than I am at Dad."  
  
He shrugged, "Oh well."  
  
Sam could hear Jack questioning Jacob in the hallway and rose to meet him. When he got into the living room his eyes fell on Sam first, he looked at her confused. She walked over to where he was standing and stood next to him, he kept eye contact, a questioning expression on his face. She just shook her head with a sigh and looked in the direction of her father and his guest.  
  
Jack followed her eyes, "Oh." He said when he saw the two men, "George ... what are you doing here?"  
  
"I can answer that one," Sam told him, taking his hand into hers. Jack panicked; nervously glancing at Jacob and George, the two only smiled in return. "They set us up," she explained nonchalantly, though he could hear anger in her voice.  
  
"They what?" Jack asked, "How?"  
  
"For the answer to that," she said, "you will have to ask them."  
  
"Sit down," George directed, Jack obeyed and he and Sam set on the sofa, still holding hands.  
  
"I don't understand," he admitted. "How did you set us up?"  
  
"We'll get to that," Jacob told him. "But first, we'd like to know if our plan worked."  
  
"What results were you expecting?" Jack asked.  
  
"We expected for the two of you to finally get your act together and admit your feelings for each other."  
  
Jack's eyes grew large but he didn't answer. Sam gave his hand a squeeze and nodded when he looked at her. "It's ok," she said, "you can tell them."  
  
"The frat regs no longer apply to those working at the SGC, Jack." George assured him, "They haven't in almost a month."  
  
"What?" He asked, "Why wasn't I informed of this."  
  
"They had to wait until it was passed," Sam told him, "when it did we had already gone to the cabin." She smiled, "We had just gotten there, in fact."  
  
"You mean--?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Sweet."  
  
"Is somebody going to answer our question." Jacob asked.  
  
"Yes, Dad. We told each other how we felt."  
  
"It's about damn time," George said with a smile. "Congratulations."  
  
"For what?" Sam asked.  
  
"Coming to your senses."  
  
She blushed, "Oh."  
  
"Well, I still don't understand any of this," Jack said. "Did you two go to the President or something? 'Cos I was going to do that tomorrow ... so, I don't have to now?"  
  
"Yes, Jack. You don't have to go."  
  
He smiled, "Sweet."  
  
"You sound like a fifteen year old," Sam joked.  
  
"So, ah, Jacob." Jack asked, "What were you two planning on doing about a little bump in the road called Pete?"  
  
Sam cringed but waited for their answer.  
  
Jacob was the first to give them an answer. "I guess I just figured that I'd sit down and have a talk with her about it, tell her about the regulations being changed and let her do what she felt she should have done. George would have done the same with Jack," he shrugged, "we didn't really think about that. Truthfully, we never thought that you and Pete would go so far as to get engaged, and I wasn't going to tell you what to do with your life."  
  
"Then what was all that this afternoon when I told you I gave him his ring back?"  
  
"I was acting," Jacob said. "I did want you to be sure with your decision, though. It's your life, after all."  
  
"Ok," Jack said, "I get all of that now. But, how exactly did you set us up?"  
  
"That's another one that I can answer," Sam told him. "The whole cabin thing, Daniel and Teal'c were in on it to. First, Dad suggested to me that you go to the places that you loved the most, i.e. your cabin. He also told me that you would need to be with somebody close that can help you remember things, Daniel and Teal'c decided not to go, which I don't think was entirely an act." She smiled, "So, that left me. They figured that if we were alone and you remembered everything then well, things would take off from there."  
  
"But they couldn't have known about me losing my memories, what would they have done then?"  
  
"That's simple," George said. "What we planned on doing in the first place, have the President order you and SG-1 to downtime, you would go to your cabin, of course, and Sam would have ended up in her lab."  
  
"Right," Jacob said. "But, if we also had the President forbid any of you from returning to the SGC she wouldn't have anywhere to go ... we would have picked a week where Pete was busy, depending on if she and he were still dating."  
  
Sam rolled her eyes, "I can't believe you set me up."  
  
Her father shrugged, "Anyway ... Jack, you and I need to have a little talk."  
  
"Dad!" Sam called out, "You will not, and I mean not, give him the talk."  
  
Jacob smiled, "Don't worry, it won't hurt him..."  
  
"I am not 16 years old, Dad, you don't have to scare everybody that I date. And, I don't recall you having the talk with Pete."  
  
He laughed, "Fine...fine. No talk, I'll just tell you now. You hurt my daughter and I'll kill you."  
  
Jack didn't seemed phase, "Why would I ever hurt her?"  
  
"Good answer." He nodded to George and the two stood up, "Well...George and I are going to go down the street and then I'm going to stay at his hotel with him tonight...you kiddies have fun." He looked sternly at Jack, "I'll be watching you, son."  
  
At that Jack kind of shrinked back, "Yes sir."  
  
The two men shared a laugh as they walked out the door, then the sound of Hammond's SUV starting up made Jack start to feel a little better, when he heard them drive off he sighed. "That was...an experience I really would have rather done without."  
  
"Don't pay attention to Dad," Sam said, pulling herself onto his lap, arms around his neck. "We have the whole night to ourselves."  
  
A grin stretched across his face and he stood up from the couch, holding her in his arms. "Well, what do you suppose we done with this 'whole night'?"  
  
"Oh," she sighed, "I got a couple of ideas."  
  
He started to walk down the hallway towards her bedroom, "Really? You know, I'd love to hear them."  
  
Pulling him into a kiss she let out a low "hmm". "I think I'd rather show you," she said as he opened the door.  
  
Closing the door behind him with his foot he said, "I like that idea much better."  
  
XXXX  
  
Jack woke up the next morning to a slight pressure on his chest, he opened his eyes to see only a mass of blonde hair and figured out why he had waken when he heard a very light snore. Smiling to himself he shifted positions and moved from under her, resting her head on a pillow and covering her back up. She stirred, said something in her sleep, and turned to lie on her side. Jack kissed her lightly on the forehead and crawled out from under the covers, his feet quietly hitting the hardwood floors. He quickly pulled on his jeans and shirt and glanced back at the bed to make sure she was still sleeping.  
  
He slowly padded across the bedroom floor and carefully creaked open the door, then shut it just as gently. As he made his way down the hallway he checked for signs of Jacob's return, sighing thankfully when he saw that the man had not yet returned. As he searched around her kitchen for something to make for breakfast he cursed himself for forgetting, they had been gone for nearly a week and she hadn't really been home much before then; there would be nothing in her fridge, or if there was anything it would have long since been spoiled.  
  
Jack glanced at the clock on the wall, it was just after 0700 hours ... they hadn't been sleeping long and he was sure she could use the rest. Deciding to take a shower in the guestroom and then if she was still asleep he would go and get something from a fast-food restaurant, then wake her up when he got back.  
  
He was out of the shower just after 0730 and left the house at close to 0745, making sure to leave a note just in case. When he got at 0835 she was awake, sitting in the living room. She smiled sleepily when he handed her the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and orange juice he had gotten.  
  
"Thanks," she motioned for him to sit next to her and when he did so she changed positions on the couch, resting her back against the arm and laying her legs across his. Smiling wickedly she took a bite of her biscuit.  
  
At 0900 hours she slid off of the couch and went to take a shower, 45 minutes later she was back in the living room, asking what they were going to do with the rest of their downtime.  
  
"Whatever you want, I guess." He said with a shrug. "The park, maybe?"  
  
"That's a good idea," she agreed. "We could take a picnic or something. Of course, we'd have to stop by the grocery store, first."  
  
"That's alright, are you ready?"  
  
She nodded, "You?"  
  
"Since 0730."  
  
"Then let's go then," she grabbed her keys from the coffee table and motioned for him to come along as she headed out the front door.  
  
"Hey, Sam," he called as he stepped off of the front porch, "I should probably change into some clean clothes before we go."  
  
"Alright," she said, starting up her car. "I'll drive by there and you can change, but you're gonna have to be quick about it."  
  
"What are we going to do until lunch?"  
  
She shrugged, "We'll figure something out."  
  
"Well," he said as he buckled his seat belt. "We've got roughly two hours ... I can think of something to do, we'd have to spend some extra time at my house though."  
  
Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head. "We are going to do something couples do."  
  
"Hey, it is something most couples do."  
  
"Jack," she warned.  
  
"Well, do you have any better ideas?"  
  
"Not yet," she told him, pulling down his street. "But I will."  
  
"Well," he sighed, reaching out and taking one of her hands into his. "Well, as long as your game I'm there."  
  
"Oh, that was the line to end all lines."  
  
He shrugged, "It worked, though, didn't it?"  
  
She laughed and gave his hand a slight squeeze, "Yeah ... yeah, it did. But, that's just because I'm a sucker for old guys with bad lines."  
  
"It wasn't that bad, was it?"  
  
She nodded, "Sorry, it was."  
  
"Oh well, can't blame a guy for trying."  
  
She pulled into his driveway and turned off the car, "Go ... change, hurry."  
  
He got out of the car grumbling about how he wasn't that old and pulled out his house keys. He quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a white shirt with a blue over shirt. When he came back out she was on the phone; he got into the car and sent a questioning look her way.  
  
"Sure, Dad.... Yeah, we're going to go to the park, have a picnic at noon, we'll be back around 0200 hours, I guess.... Ok, I'll see you then.... Goodbye, Dad." She hung up the phone and looked over at Jack. "That was Dad, he wants to go to a movie tonight, do you mind?"  
  
"No, don't mind."  
  
"Alright, well, let's get going." She pulled out of the driveway and off towards the park.  
  
"So," Jack asked, rolling down his window, "what're we going to do?"  
  
XXXX  
  
A/N: Well, let me know what'cha think.

"You mean--?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Sweet."

...That whole part was just to say that when they, well y'all know what they done, it wasn't breaking the frat regs...because they didn't exsist anymore. I just didn't want them to get in trouble, in case the wrong person found out.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Title: John Doe 

Chapter: Eighteen

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah ... they ain't mine,

XXXX

They walked hand in hand around the park, watching the other couples as they watched and the children playing on the slides and swings. When they sat down on the picnic blanket Sam had brought with them Jack noticed that one little girl swinging on the swings caught Sam's eye. She looked around six years old and from what he could see she had long, curly blonde hair. Jack decided to ask her about it.

"Do you know her?" He asked, looking at the girl.

She shook her head, "No ... she reminds me of somebody."

"Oh? Who?"

She smiled and looked down at the blanket, "It's a long and confusing story."

"I've got time." He stated, pulling her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "I'd like to hear about it."

"When I was on the Prometheus, for those four days I was alone, I saw people."

"People?" He questioned, his normal confused look dancing in his eyes.

"It was my subconscious mind trying to help me figure things out," she explained. "Most of the people ... figments, that I came into contact with were those I were close with. You, for example, and my father ... the rest of SG-1 as well. Each had a different idea of what was going on ... or, at least Teal'c did. He thought that the others and I had been taking by aliens, which wasn't exactly false, except for the me part. He-or rather I-told me that it was possible they were probing my brain for information about earth, and that by trying to fix things I was leaking out information to them. Daniel, not oddly, wanted me to study the gas cloud that we were in; thinking it was a life form in itself. You and Dad didn't really have an opinion about what was going on, although you did tell me to go save my ass. But, there was this little blonde girl I kept seeing, her name was Grace. The thing about her was that she was singing the nursery rhyme that my mother had taught me when I was seven years old. That little girl just reminds me of her."

He thought the explanation over. "...Wait, you saw people who weren't there?"

"I did have a concussion, Jack."

"Right," he nodded." And ... I was there?"

"Well ... my subconscious mind used your image to get something across to me. So, in essence, yes. In reality, no."

"What did I say to you?"

She looked away, "It doesn't matter."

"Then what's wrong with telling me?" He asked, moving so that he could see her face. "Just tell me Sam."

She sighed to herself, "To understand things you've got to know what my imagination of dad said. He told me that it was time to let go of the things that prevented me from finding happiness. That I deserved to love and be loved in return. He, of course, was referring to my feelings for you." She looked down at her hands, "Then, later on, you came to me. After making a comment about what friends are for we got into a ... discussion on our relationship. Basically, you said that the reason I had feelings for you was because you were a safe bet, if I set my eyes on you, what I knew I could never have, there was no chance that I could be hurt by another man." She looked back up, "But what you ... I ... didn't say was that by ignoring my feelings for you I'd be hurting myself a lot worse than any man ever could."

"...Oh."

She laughed slightly, "Yeah ... confusing, huh?"

"A bit," he admitted. "But none of that matters anymore."

She smiled, "You're right ... it doesn't."

XXXX

1403 Zulu

Sam pulled into her driveway behind the familiar dark blue SUV that belonged to one General Gorge Hammond. Glancing at Jack, who looked a bit nervous, she opened the car door and stepped out. He followed suit, putting on a pair of sunglasses as the sun came out from behind the clouds. Meeting halfway to the door Sam slipped her hand into Jack's, intertwining their fingers.

Jacob opened the door as they walked up the stairs; "You kids have fun?" He asked, a smile on his face.

Sam rolled her eyes and brushed past him, into the house, pulling Jack along with her. Jacob chuckled and followed them into the living room. They sat down and waited for Jacob to enter the room.

"So, Dad, what exactly were you planning on us doing?"

Jacob just smiled, "You'll see."

XXXX

Jacob pulled into the parking lot of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and shut off the SUV.

"Dad, what are we doing here?"

"Picking someone up," he said nonchalantly. After waiting in the car for a couple of minutes the passengers' side door opened and a smiling Cassie climbed into the large vehicle, looking back at the two sitting behind her.

"So, I take it their little conspiracy worked?" She asked, the grin on her face spreading. "It's about damn time."

"Cassie," Sam scolded.

"Oh come on, I'm 20 years old Sam. I've known the word since I came to earth and it's certainly not the first time that I've said it."

"Well, I was going to say mind your own business, but ... if you feel guilty about cursing who am I to stop you?"

Cassie rolled her eyes and looked over at Jack, "How's the memory coming?"

"It's good ... just about everything is back. I think it's just a matter of time before I remember everything." He shrugged, "It'll come sooner or later."

"Good to hear. Do you, ah ... have any clue as to where we are going and what we are doing?"

They both shook their heads. "Sorry, Cassie," Sam said, "we're as in the dark as you are. In fact ... we didn't even know that you were coming with us. Dad's been very secretive."

"Hey," Jacob said in his defense. "It's not me. This is all Sel'mac's doing. Apparently the three of us, Cassie not included, lack a life outside of work, so Sel'mac has been bugging me nonstop to get out and do something."

"Well, not like I'm thrilled to be going with you guys, but if I have a life why am I here?"

He shrugged, "Sel'mac likes you." He smiled over at her, "Haven't figured out why yet."

"Oh, that's not nice." She said, a joking pout on her face. "At least I have a life."

Sam giggled from the back seat and Jack sent her a look.

"What?"

"No giggling," he ordered.

"Haven't we gone over this already?" She asked, "I'll giggle any time I damn well please."

He mocked Cassie and pouted, "At least I have a life outside of work."

"I'd hardly call fishing on downtime a life, Jack."

"Well, I'd hardly call working on downtime a life." He pointed out, "Sam."

"Will you two quit?" Jacob said from the front seat, "We're here."

Sam looked out the window, a look of confusion washed over her. "Laser tag, dad?" She asked, "What are we, 10?"

"Hey," Jack called, "What's wrong with laser tag."

"My point exactly," she said with a smile. "Seriously dad, this is what Sel'mac wanted to do?"

Jacob nodded, "Been bugging me forever to finally come. I got a bit annoyed with it." He shrugged, "Oh, come on, can you honestly say that you don't want to?"

She shrugged, "I guess it will be fun..."

XXXX

She crept around a corner, her eyes falling on her target. Aiming her weapon she fired, he was hit. He turned to look at her, a glare in his eyes.

"Carter!" He called out, "You are so going down for this."

She started to run off in the other direction, disappearing behind the very corner she had just turned. She hid behind two barrels of fake "toxic material" and held in her laughter as he ran by. It had been more than thirty seconds so his weapon would be no longer disabled, he was on a mission of revenge and she was going to do her best to stay out of his way.

"Carter!" He yelled out, running farther away from her, "Sam!"

When he was out of view she came out from her hiding place and ran off in to opposite direction, bumping straight into her father. "Oh ... shit," he muttered as he shot at her, she was out for the next thirty seconds. Her father's eyes flashed and Sel'mac laughed, running off in the other direction. Sam followed the Tok'ra, they weren't getting away with this.

"Damn you Cassie!" She heard Jack yell out. Try as she might she couldn't hold in her giggle.

He had been close enough to hear her do so, "No giggling." He scolded, coming into view.

Her electronic vest flashed, she was back in the game. "Not gonna work," she told him, firing her weapon at him. His vest flashed and he cursed under his breath, giving her an evil look. She grinned and ran off in search of her father.

The game lasted twenty minutes or so and in the end none of those with military training won. Jack, former black ops, lost horribly with 54 misses and only 103 hits, Jacob/Sel'mac, who both had experience with weapons, came in a close third with 41 misses and 112 hits. Sam was a little better off only having 23 misses to go with her 124 hits. Cassie, who had never even held a gun in her life, won with only 12 misses and 143 hits, bragging rights went to the twenty-year-old college student.

Cassie convinced them that, since she won, she should pick where they went to eat. She decided on a little restaurant that her mother had been fond of, Jesse's Dinner. She said that they had the best burgers anywhere, thick and juicy. The other three agreed and with Cassie directing they were there in fifteen minutes, eating in less than thirty.

"You've done that before, haven't you?" Jack asked, taking a bite of his hamburger.

Cassie smiled, "Maybe."

"Ha!" He said, "I knew it. That's not fair."

"Actually, Jack, the fact that we're all military personal who carry weapons every single day kind of gives us the advantage. And even if Cassie hadn't done that before you still would have come in last place ... face it, you suck at laser tag."

He laughed, "You're right ... I do."

They talked amongst themselves as they finished their lunch and then they drove Cassie back to campus for her late class, Then Jacob drove them to Jack's house.

"I have to go back to base," he explained. "If you've noticed I've got George's car ... he's kind of stranded there without it." He smiled at them, "Have fun."

"I swear," Sam said when he drove off, "he keeps getting stranger and stranger each time I see him. Sel'mac is a bad influence on him."

Jack laughed and pulled her into his arms, even though they were still outside standing in the middle of his driveway. "You know though, we should take his advice." His fingers traveled up her back, then back down, then up again, sending chills down her spine.

"Oh?" She asked, "How do we do that?"

"Well ... I gotta few ideas."

"And do you suppose we do these ideas out here ... on the driveway."

"Hey ... if that's what you want, who am I to stop you?"

She swatted him playfully, then kissed him. "I love you," she told him, kissing him again.

He smiled and pulled her closer, "I love you."

She laughed, "With all the stress you cause me, you'd better." She pulled back, out of his embrace, her hands traveling down his arms until they reached his. Pulling him with her she made her way up the driveway and to the door and he pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and allowed her to lead him into the bedroom.

She pushed him down on the bed and he looked at her bemused, "What are you doing?"

"Having fun." She replied, crawling onto the bed.

"Oh," he replied. "Then by all means, continue."

She smiled, "I'd planned on doing so."


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**John Doe**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Disclaimer: Um ... see chapter one, two, three, four, five, six, seven ... and so on and so forth.**

**XXXX**

Four days later they were back at work, with much thanks from Siler for returning the most important person when dealing with the 'gate. From one look at the control room Jack saw that it was going to be a long day for her, then when he peeked inside his office he realized that his day was going to be much, much longer. His incoming paperwork stack had been moved from the top of his desk to two larger piles on the floor by the side of it, couldn't George have tackled some of this for him?

Glancing at his watch he worked out his schedule, see Jacob off at 0900, debrief with SG-2 and SG-5 and 0930, brief with SG-12 at 1000 hours, then see them off at 1100 hours, lunch at noon, and then SG-7 would return at 1400 hours and he had a debriefing with them at 1500 hours. In-between all of that he would begin with the paperwork, as the stack grew in size. Why had he taken this position?

Oh, yeah. He could do_ anything_ he wanted. Damn Carter for suggesting that, paperwork wasn't exactly something that he **wanted** to do.

So he began. At fifteen after oh-nine hundred Jacob appeared in the doorway of his office, knocking as he did so. Jack told him to come in and set down his pencil, welcoming the break. "What can I do for you, Jake?" He asked, resting his arms on his desk.

"Just thought that I would come by, I leave soon."

"I know," Jack replied. "I'll be there to see you off. So ... what can I do for you, Jake?" He repeated his former question, for the sake of not recieving what he felt was the truth from the major general.

The Tok'ra smiled. "I just wanted to talk."

"Ah," Jack sighed, "_talk_. Right, I get'cha. Listen, Jacob ... there is nothing to worry about. I would never, and I mean never, hurt your daughter, I love her." He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "You've just gotta trust me on this one, Jake."

He sighed, "I'd like to Jack, but the dad part in me begs to differ. Just ... let me threaten you, alright? It'll make me feel better."

Jack tried not to laugh, "Go ahead, sir. Threaten away."

"All that I have to say is that if you hurt my daughter there will be hell to pay. I, by myself, know various methods of torture, and along with Sel'mac's input I can make you wish that you were never born. Understand?"

He nodded furiously, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"No joking, Jack." Jacob said, his expression stern. "I'm being serious."

"Completely understood."

Jacob stood, "Good. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to tear Sam away from Siler and the computers for a while and say goodbye."

"By all means, I'm sure she would welcome the break." He smiled, "Again, you don't have to worry about me hurting her. I would never even dream of it."

The older man nodded, turned, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Jack breathed a sigh of relief, he had been waiting for Jacob to do that ever since Sam and he informed him that they were a couple, it certainly did take him awhile to finally do so. Glancing down at the paperwork that was still piled on his floor he groaned, deciding that he was never going to take another two-week long vacation again. Well, that probably wasn't true. He would never get amnesia again. There, that was a better goal.

A little over half an hour later Jack stood idly in the control room, looking out upon the 'Gate. Jacob hadn't arrived yet, but he still had at least ten minutes until he was scheduled to leave for the Tok'ra home world. Sam was nowhere to be found and Siler was on the verge of hyperventilating ... or maybe passing out, Jack wasn't sure, but from where he was standing it didn't look good. He had assured the sergeant that as soon as Jake left Sam would be returned to him for the remainder of the day, but it hadn't seemed to help any. The man was completely paranoid or ... something. He kept mumbling to himself about 'gate diagnostics and screwey computer programming, if you asked Jack he needed a visit with McKenzie in a bad way, but Jack wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy. Maybe a day off....

"Siler," Jack called out, searching the room for where the man had run off to.

"Sir?" He answered, poking his head out from under a computer desk. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Well, for starters you can climb out from under that thing." He suggested, glancing at his watch. "And, you can also go home."

"Sir?" Siler asked, a worried tone in his voice.

"Don't worry, Siler. I'm not firing you or anything. I'm giving you the rest of the day off ... tomorrow as well. I don't want to see you on base until Thursday."

"That's not necessary, sir." Siler argued, "I am per--"

"When was the last time you had downtime?" Jack asked, an eyebrow climbing up his forehead. "And keep in mind my memories have returned, I'll know if you're lying."

Siler coughed and ran the figures in his mind. "Uh ... two years and three months ago, sir."

"O .... k. Make that no returning until Friday. We'll be fine here, Siler. You need a break."

"Yes, sir." He said with a nod, "But if I'm needed--"

"Ah ... no ... don't even think about leaving a contact number. We'll make due without you. Now ... you go get started on your downtime. That's an order."

"Yes, sir." Siler said as he turned and walked out of the room, he passed Daniel and Teal'c on his way out. The two watched him leave, a confused look appearing on Daniel's face. "Where's he going?" He asked, looking over his shoulder.

Jack shrugged. "Home I would guess. I gave him a few days downtime ... he was starting to talk to himself, it wasn't very encouraging, to say the least. He'll be ok though, he just needs a break."

"Right," Daniel replied. "Sam and Jacob haven't found their way here yet?"

"Not yet," he said looking at his watch. "They've still got a couple of minutes. I'd imagine that they've got a lot to talk about ... so, yeah." He shrugged, "We can wait."

A few minutes later the objects of their discussion showed up. Jack had Davis dial the 'gate and made his way down to the 'gate room to say goodbye. Daniel and Teal'c, having already said their good-byes, opted to stay in the control room. He walked into the room just as Sam was hugging her father goodbye and went up to the two so he could tell Jacob goodbye.

"Jake," he greeted with a smile. "You planning on returning any time soon?"

The older man nodded, "I'll be back for a few days in about two months." He glanced over at Sam then back at Jack, "I trust you will keep our conversation in mind."

"You trust correctly. I won't forget it."

Sam's eyes narrowed on her father. "What conversation?" she demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

"We talked about hockey," Jack said nonchalantly. "What's it to ya?"

"Uh-huh," Sam replied incredulously. "Hockey."

"Yeah," Jack told her, a brilliant idea popping into his head. "Jake volunteered to go to a game with me next time he's on earth." He looked at the man with a sly smile, "Didn't you, Jake?"

"I did, indeed." Jacob said with a less enthusiastic smile. "You want to come with us, Sammie?"

The incredulous look had yet to leave her eyes, "Sure. It sounds fun." She looked over her shoulder as the 'gate swooshed forward. "Well, Dad. I guess you should be heading out. Don't want the Tok'ra to worry about you, now do we?"

"Right," Jack said. "That would be tragic."

Jacob sighed, his eyes rolling slightly. "Goodbye, Jack." He looked at his daughter, "Sam ... you two take care." With that he turned and headed up the ramp, towards the simmering blue puddle. Before walking through he glanced behind himself, smiling at the two. His eyes flashed and Sel'mac winked, then stepped through. Sam and Jack laughed as they walked out of the 'gate room, Sam's hand slipping into Jacks.

"So," she inquired. "What did you and dad really talk about?"

"Oh, you know," he said with a shrug. "The usual. He said hello, I said hello, he threatened to torture me if I ever hurt you, I assured him that wasn't possible ... nothing different."

"He what?!" She exclaimed, shock registering on her face. "I can't believe him! I told him, under no circumstances necessary, give you a speech!"

"Calm down," he said with a laugh. "I'm never going to hurt you so you don't have to worry about your father ever hurting me. See, it's a cycle." He smiled, "I'll be ok, don't worry."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "But, he still threatened you."

"Yeah," he agreed. "That he did. Can you blame him, though? I know that if it had been me in his situation I probably would have said at lot worse to ... me." His brow furrowed, "Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," she assured him as they turned a corner and began walking down a different corridor, still hand in hand. They ignored the whispering as they passed each person or group, it was something that both had prepared themselves for. It amazed Jack, how obsessed with gossip the SGC's personnel were, how high school some adults still acted. It bothered him, being the leader of the base, that the people who were expected to save the world (in one way or another) on a regular basis could be so juvenile. Not that he was always professional, he was known to be immature from time to time, but that was just his personality. These people were behaving as if teenagers for one reason, the act of gossiping.

In fact, just the pervious day he had been in the conversation when he overheard a conversation between Major Davis (who had been at the SGC on official Pentagon business ... he had just gotten out of a briefing with Jack that had been boring and overall confusing) and Daniel. Davis was accusing Daniel of having a part in the fixed outcome of the SGC's betting pool, which had been about the basics of Jack and Sam's relationship. Apparently, there was more than one going on, but the one that Davis was upset about was the one that specified when they would become a couple, it was even down to the date. How did anybody know when he and Sam finally told each other how they felt? He hadn't said anything to anyone, and neither had Sam, or so he thought. Later that day he had inquired of Sam if she had told anybody the specifics of the night they had confessed their feelings to each other, she assured him that she hadn't. He was still baffled by it.

That conversation was probably just one of many. It was funny, in a way, to Jack. All of these people were so focused on his and Sam's life that they had none of their own. As they walked down yet another hallway he glared at two of the nurses who suddenly had found something very important to whisper and giggle about. The two ignored him, grinning at Sam, still whispering to each other. He heard her sigh as they passed the two and he looked over at her with a smile and a shrug, "What can you do about it?" He asked, though it really wasn't a question directed at her, but more of a statement that was intended for her. "Free speech and all."

She rolled her eyes, "It's so damn annoying, though."

A devious thought passed through his mind and he all of a sudden quit walking. Sam continued for a second before realizing that he was no longer beside her, she then stopped too.

"Jack?" She asked as he pulled her closer to him.

"Let's really give them something to talk about," he suggested, capturing her lips with his own. He had caught her off guard and she stiffened at first, not wanting to have an audience. He broke the kiss, smiled at her, and all of her apprehensions melted away, she leaned forward, this time being the one to catch him off guard. The hallway was silent as stood there, Sam's arms wrapped around Jack's neck and his resting on her hips, essentially making out.

They broke apart both grinning like idiots and started back down the hallway like nothing had ever happened. Both trying to keep from cracking up in front of those who were staring at them, their jaws dropped. Walking at a slow pace Sam's hand once again slipped into Jack's as she looked up at him with a sly smile, shaking her head with silent laughter. They continued walking, hand in hand, not making eye contact with anyone they passed. When they turned to corner onto another hallway they stopped and waited.

The whispering started again.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Anyway, sorry that it took forever for this chapter. It's been one hectic week with Thanksgiving and all, then everything with the ff.n being messed up for a couple of days. It would have been out sooner, if not for that. I'll try to get the next one out quicker, but no promises. I'm getting into the last couple weeks of the semester and with all the tests that I'm going to have to take plus the disections in Bio, I just don't know. Anyway ... let me know what'cha think.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Disclaimer: See chapter's 1-19.**

**Authors Note: This would have been out sooner, but about half way into the chapter I decided I didn't really like where it was going and deleted everything I had and started over. Hopefully this version is better than the last was turning out to be.**

**XXXX**

News about the incident in the hallway traveled faster than the speed of light. By the end of the day nurses, airmen, technicians, and the likes were cornering Jack and Sam, wanting to know if what they had heard through the grapevine was indeed the truth. Teal'c and Daniel even inquired about it, although they knew that it was likely that it had. Sam thought it was funny, but he didn't think it was as amusing as she did. Such might have had to do with the fact that whenever he walked down the hallway the passing airmen glared and gave him the evil eye, but when Sam walked past the female members of the SGC and the nurses and doctors they smiled or waggled their eyebrows at her. It seemed that he was getting the short end of the stick- and she was enjoying it.

After the little ... incident in the hallway they made their way to the commissary, where he remembered his debriefing with SG's 2 and 5- he had little over 5 minutes to get back to the briefing room. After running as fast as he could through the corridors of the SGC he managed to make it there with two minutes to spare, although Major Todd and Captain Deflorentes, CO and 21C of SG-5, were already waiting in their seats. Sitting down in his chair he attempted to catch his breath, picking up the preliminary mission report from three days prior, and glancing over it to refresh his memory.

P9S-331, known to the denizens as Milinia, was a technologically less advanced planet. The Milinians were a peaceful race, ignorant of anything alien related, in fact they-like many others that the SGC had come in contact with- had not known of the Stargate's true purpose previously. Strangely enough, they had no desire to know anything about the 'Gate and of the other worlds that the Tauri had ventured to, all they asked for was medicine. A virus was plaguing their race and they were not as well off in the medical department as earth, 5 percent of their population had already died from the illness and 10 percent were currently ill. They needed help- desperately.

Once the rest of SG-5 and SG-2 arrived the debriefing began. "What are your assessments of the Milinians?" Jack inquired, address everyone at the table.

Captain Deflorentes was the first to reply, "They're friendly people," she informed him. "They're not very advance, nor do they wish to get involved in any alien related activities, but sir, they need our help. We can't just sit by idly and watch their people drop like flies." Looking around at the others she continued, "What seems to be plaguing them has all the symptoms of the flu, sir," she explained. "I'm not a doctor, but I think it can be treated very easily and without much cost. It's just a matter of figuring out exactly what it is, sir."

Captain Rhodes, 2IC of SG-2, picked up where she left off. "Deflorentes is right, sir," he agreed. "If you would allow us to go back to 331 for a few days with a couple of the doctors we could pinpoint what's wrong with them and get an antidote." Shrugging, he added, "Who knows- maybe after they'll be grateful and agree to helping us with our fight against the Goa'uld."

"Are their people capable of doing such?" Jack asked, intrigued.

"Yes, sir." Todd replied, "Their men are nearly as built as Jaffa, their women don't engage in battle-" Deflorentes huffed to herself, and Todd sent her a look. Then he continued, "-but they look as if they could take on a couple Serpent Guards themselves. It would certainly be in our best interest to have them as allies, sir."

"And this flu-like virus, it's not communicable?" Jack inquired, "I'd hate to have two of my best teams out with an alien flu."

"As far as we know, sir, we're immune. It's possible it has to do with the different conditions in which we live, our chemical makeup- it could even be because everyone at the SGC is required to have a flu shot every year." Shrugging he continued, "The truth is, sir, we don't know why it has no effect on us. It just doesn't."

"Alright," Jack agreed. "But, my conditions on your return is that before you leave you stop by the infirmary and have a course of antiviral's. Better safe than dead," he sighed, "I'll send Dr. Norton, Dr. Reed, and a few nurses along with you. You'll leave at 1730, until then I suggest you get some rest." Picking up the papers on the desk he added, "Dismissed."

Everyone left, but Todd lagged behind, thinking something over.

"Anything I can help you with, Todd?" Jack asked, standing up from his chair. "Or were you planning to sit there for oh ... eight hours?"

Todd shook his head, "No, sir. May I ask you something off-the-record, sir?"

Jack looked at him suspiciously, "Go ahead, Major."

Todd took a deep breath, "Concerning the new frat regs--"

"There are none," Jack supplied.

"Right," Todd agreed. "Which means that I can date anybody that I want to?"

"As long as I don't observe it effecting your work, you can date anybody."

"Anybody?" Todd repeated.

"Anybody," Jack assured him. "As long as it's not Carter."

The major smiled, "Yes, sir." He began to walk out of the room when Jack called after him.

"Todd, wait up a second."

"Yes, sir?" He asked, turning back around to face him.

"Do you mind if I ask who the lucky lady is?" Jack asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "If you don't want to say, I understand, of cou-"

"Captain Deflorentes," Todd explained.

"Ah," he replied. "I see."

"I figured that you would, sir." Todd said with a smile, "Now, if you'll excuse me...."

"Go," Jack told him. "Good luck."

"Thank you, sir." Came Todd's rushed reply as he exited the briefing room. Smiling to himself Jack looked at the clock above the door of the room, 0952. There were only eight minutes until he would have to brief with SG-12 before their reconnaissance mission to P2Q-946 and he had yet to read over the entire preliminary mission report. He had a little less than ten minutes to read more than half of a twelve-page report. Sitting back down at his desk he found the file and began to read. It was going to be a long, boring day.

**XXXX**

Sighing, she wiggled her way under the control panel that Siler had been working on before he was given his downtime. "Dear God," she mumbled to herself, examining the fraying wires, "this is crazy."

She could already tell that the day ahead was going to be long and hard.

**XXXX**

At five past 1100 hours Jack was standing in the control room looking out on the 'gate. SG-12 was preparing to leave for P2Q-946 and Davis' was going through the dial-out sequence. He was on chevron 4 when a large 'ka-thunk' followed by a very distinct moan came from the opposite side of the room. Glancing over his shoulder Jack saw Sam climb out from under the same control panel that Siler had been working on, rubbing her shoulder and wincing.

"That's gonna bruise," she exclaimed with a sigh, looking up at him exasperated. "I don't know how Siler does it, sir," she confessed as she pulled herself off of the ground, nurturing her sore shoulder. "When's he coming back again?"

"Friday," Jack said, turning back towards the 'gate just in the time to see it 'whoosh' forward. "SG-12," the intercom carried his voice into the 'gate room, "you have a go."

The four members of SG-12 nodded back at him and made their way up the ramp and through the event horizon. When the 'gate shut down Jack turned back around, giving his attention to Sam. "How's the shoulder?"

"Sore," she said with a sigh. "I'll be fine, sir. I should probably get back to fixing these wires."

"Lunch at noon?" he suggested.

A small smile spread across her face, "Sounds good, sir."

"Alright then, back to work Colonel." he ordered with a wink.

"Yes, sir!" She barked, her smile growing.

With that he turned back around and made his way out of the control room, headed for his office and a large stack of paperwork that required his attention.

**XXXX**

At 1400 SG-7 returned from P3X-053 and an hour later he had a relatively uneventful debriefing with them. Daniel would have found it more interesting, since 053 seemed to be crawling with ruins, at 1547, when the debriefing was over, Jack sent Captain Phelps to find the archeologist and show him the pictures they had brought back. He gave it less than an hour before Daniel would be in his office, jumping up and down and begging to be sent to the planet for further study. It had been awhile since Daniel had gone on such a mission so he decided that he would let him go, also he recalled mentioning an off-world vacation to Sam. This planet was mostly sand, but that was because it was an island world. Maybe he would tag along with SG-1.

Sure enough, just before 1630 there was a rushed knock at his door, before he even had the chance to allow the person on the other side to enter Daniel came bounding into his office.

"What can I do for you, Spacemonkey?" Jack inquired, leaning back in his 'general's chair', earning a nasty look from the doctor of archeology.

Choosing to ignore the nickname Daniel started on a rant, "Jack, this planet that SG-7 just returned from, P3X-053- I have to go there. The writing on the ruins is a variation of the language that the ancients spoke. I believe that one of the ancient outpost's is located there--"

"Oh, not another one of those things!" Jack exclaimed, "They only cause trouble."

Daniel pushed his glasses back, "Well ... yeah, but- Ba'al has taken up where Anubus left off. If he gets a-hold of this technology who knows what sort of advantage he'd have over us. We need this," he crossed his arms over his chest. "And, nobody's saying that you have to go or that anybody has to stick their heads into the outpost--"

"Head sucker," Jack mumbled to himself.

"-Right. Anyway- this is very important, Jack. We need to go here."

"SG-7 did a complete sweep of the planet, Daniel," Jack explained. "They didn't find any of these ancient outposts."

"What about an out-of-place stone building?" Daniel inquired, "You of all people know that the outpost isn't sticking out screaming "here I am!". We ... I really need to go to this planet, Jack."

A sigh escaped Jack's lips, "Alright." He glanced over at the clock on his desk, "I have a briefing with SG's 2 and 5 in a few minutes, so we'll have to discuss the specifics later."

"You're OK-ing the mission?" Daniel asked, incredulously.

"Yes, Daniel. I am. Something about that surprises you?"

"Well ... yeah- actually, it does." He confessed, "You usually require more convincing than that."

Jack shrugged, "You've made your case- Now, if you'll excuse me." He stood up; "I have two minutes before my briefing. We can talk about SG-1's involvement in this mission later."

He spent an hour and a half in the briefing before seeing SG's 2 and 5 off, after that he had no more briefing's or debriefing's, nor was he expecting any SG teams back until the next morning. Sam had already finished in the control room and had locked herself in her office, working on some doohickey that he had no understanding of. Deciding to give her some extra time working he called Daniel back into his office, the sooner they got it over with the sooner he could go home ... and order Sam to as well.

Daniel stuck his head in the doorway of Jack's office; "Hey ... you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, "come in."

Sitting down in a chair in front of Jack's desk Daniel continued, "You've thought the mission to P3X-053 through?"

"I have, SG-1 leaves Thursday--"

"Why not tomorrow?" Daniel interrupted.

"Because," Jack interjected, "it'll take that long to get a temporary replacement for me."

"Why would you-Oh. You hate archeology, Jack ... why do you want to tag along?"

He shrugged, "It's an important mission. Retrieve one of those head suckers so that Ba'al doesn't get his grubby hands on it."

"Right..." Daniel exclaimed. "Sure."

Jack ignored the skepticism in his voice; "We will be leaving at 1100 on Thursday. Briefing at 1000 hours, we'll return at 2100 hours on Friday night. From there I'll decide if more time on the planet is required, if it is you will return with SG-1. If not, well, you'll just have to make due with what you get."

"That's only 34 hours, Jack." Daniel argued, "What if we don't find it?"

"It's not a very large continent, Daniel. SG-7 searched it in less than a day, you'll have plenty of time to geek." Sighing he leaned back in his chair, "That's all."

"Well, I guess I'll be heading home then." Daniel said, standing up from his chair. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Jack agreed, "See ya later, Spacemonkey."

Ignoring the nickname again he walked out of the room, yelling out his goodbye. Glancing at his watch Jack decided that since it was already after 1830 he should call it a night. Gathering his things he left his office, turning the lights off in the process, and closing the door behind him. Maneuvering his way through the corridors he made his way to her office, used his keycard to get in, and then stood in the doorway to her office.

She was sitting at her desk, hunched over some technological marvel, grumbling to herself. Jack could tell that she knew of his presence in the room, though she had chosen to ignore it, caught up in her engrossment. Not that he minded, he liked to watch her working.

"What'cha working on, Carter." he asked after he had been watching her for several minutes.

"To be honest, sir. I'm not exactly sure what _it_ is," she gushed. "Amazing is about the only way I can describe _it_- or enigmatic, maybe."

"Really?" He inquired, stepping into the office. The door slid shut behind him. "Well ... what's so enigmatic about this doohickey?"

"It moves...." She explained, "Independently."

"I move independently, Carter." Jack countered, "What's so special about _it_ moving independently."

"It's inorganic, sir." Sam added, "Inorganic objects don't move without an outside force causing it to do so."

"So ... maybe this doohickey **is **organic, you just don't _know_ it." he speculated, "It is alien technology, is it not?"

"It's not, sir." She turned around in her chair and looked at him, "Listen, sir, if you'd just come over here and look at _it_ you would understand."

"Alright...." Jack said, "Let's see this enigma of a doohickey you've got." He walked up next to her chair and looked at the oddly shaped, multi-colored, ... object. "I don't see it moving," he exclaimed.

"Hold on, sir." she scolded, picking up her microscope and waving it over a section of the nameless doohickey.

"Wow...." was all he could say.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Yeah, again, sorry it took so long. I'm a lot happier with this chapter than I originally was. So, I'm sure it was worth it.  
Anyway, please review!**


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Disclaimer: Well, the show doesn't belong to me, neither does the science behind the chapter.**

**A/N: Alright, I'm attempting with science! It'll be a bit hard for me, since I'm only 15 and I'm only in Biology 2 and I don't have anatomy and physiology (doesn't really go along with this) chemistry I until my junior year and Chemistry II and physics until my senior year, so I'm kind of walking blind here! Anyway ... on with the madness!**

**XXXX**

_"Alright...." Jack said, "Let's see this enigma of a doohickey you've got." He walked up next to her chair and looked at the oddly shaped, multi-colored, ... object. "I don't see it moving," he exclaimed._

_"Hold on, sir." she scolded, picking up her microscope and waving it over a section of the nameless doohickey._

_"Wow...." was all he could say._

**XXXX**

"Well ... _what_ am I seeing here?" He asked, coming out of his initial shock.

"The best way I can explain it is some bizarre form of kinetics," she explained. "The kinetic theory of matter states that matter is composed of small particles, all in random motion. So, what you're seeing is just a more noticeable occurrence of what happens every day- of what's happening right now all around us. According to the theory this desk," she motioned at the table in front of her, "is actually in motion, the motion is just so inconspicuous that to the naked eye the object appears stationary. Even magnified thousands of times it would still appear as if it wasn't moving."

"But it is just a theory?" Jack asked, still captivated by the barely noticeable continuous shift of the foreign object. "Right?"

"Not anymore," she said with a bright smile. "This proves the theory, sir. Matter, or at least matter in this form, is always moving. I mean, dear God, sir ... this is spectacular," her eyes sparkled up at him. "That's not all, either."

Jack recoiled, "There's more?"

"This isn't even the tip of the iceberg, sir." She explained, "Pay close attention, alright?"

"Ok," he agreed, watching it attentively.

"Here it goes," taking a deep breath she passed her hand **through** the object. Particles scattered and veered off in various directions, away from her hand, then bounced right back to reform_ its_ original shape, as soon as Sam's hand a good distance away. She looked back up at him, eyes still sparkling, grin stretched wide across her face. "It's...."

"Enigmatic," he finished for her.

"Yeah," she breathed in amazement. "I've never seen anything quiet like it before ... other than a hologram. But_ this_, sir- _this_ is real!"

"Wait a second," he exclaimed as an idea struck him. "If this thing separates every time something gets near enough or touches it how did it get here?"

Her grin widened, "I thought you'd ask that." Nodding over at the lights she addressed him, "Turn the lights off, sir, and I'll show you."

He did as told, then managed to find his way back to her desk in the dark. Yet another unbelievable fact about the doohickey was that it glowed in the dark, bright florescent orange, yellow, and green. Sam mimicked her earlier actions, attempting to pass her hand through the object, but instead it just made contact. Nothing moved out of the way, he couldn't even see the thing moving anymore, it was like the dark shut off all of it's strange abilities, well, except for the glowing in the dark thing.

"Cool," he breathed.

"Yeah," she agreed. "When SG-6 found _it_ they attempted to pick _it_ up, but nobody could grasp _it_ on their own. But, when Captain Rodgers tried it worked, Colonel Jacobs had been standing over her and the object, causing a shadow on _it_. She tried to walk away with _it_, but it fell as soon as she walked into the light."

"Well," Jack said, clearing his throat. "Do you think that you could tear yourself away from this enigma of a doohickey for the night and we could go back to my place-or your place, I'm flexible- and order some pizza...."

"Oh, I don't know," she explained, "if all you've got to offer is pizza...."

"You're forgetting the fact that I'm flexible," he informed her. "And that since I'm your CO I can order you home."

She thought about it for a moment, "Well ... I guess, if you're flexible."

He pulled her out of her seat and rested his hands on her hips, "Oh, trust me," he said kissing her briefly. "I'm **very** flexible."

**XXXX**

She woke up early the next morning, his arms wrapped tightly around her. One glance at the window told her she still had plenty of time until she would have to get up and begin getting ready for work. She almost wanted to just call in sick and play hooky, but there was a perplexing 'doohickey' at the SGC that required her full attention. Sighing sleepily she rolled over, facing his chest. His arms tightened around her instinctively at the movement, but he didn't wake. Managing to get an arm out of his grasp she opened his watch and pressed the button that produced a green glow, allowing her to see the time. It was just after 0500 hours, she still had a good fifty minutes until they both had to get out of bed.

After making sure the alarm on his watch was set for five minutes before 0600 she found a comfortable spot in his arms and allowed herself to drift back off to sleep.

An irritating beep followed by an equally irritated groan woke her up the second time. Jack turned off his alarm and grumbled something incoherently, scooting towards the edge of the bed. She instantly missed the warmth of his arms but managed to pull herself out of bed, too. Sleepily, she padded across her bedroom floor and into the conjoining bathroom, Jack close behind.

"Guest bathroom," she mumbled at him before closing the door to the bathroom. He groaned and made his way out of the bathroom and down the hall, into the guest bath. In his sleepy state he turned the water on hotter than he had planned, undressed quickly, and stepped into the shower. Yelping he dashed back out and turned up the cold water. Now fully awake he tested the temperature of the water with the back of his hand before climbing into the shower again.

Half an hour later he was dressed and starting a pot of coffee in her kitchen, while she dried her hair and applied what little make-up she wore. While the coffee was being made he picked up the phone and dialed the base, then was patched through to Teal'c in his quarters. The Jaffa answered on the third ring.

"Hello."

"Hey, T." He greeted, "Green today, alright?"

Jack could almost hear the Jaffa nod through the telephone, "I will inform DanielJackson." Teal'c said before hanging up.

Fifteen minutes later Jack was in his truck and Sam in her Volvo, both on their way to work, respectively. When they arrived at the first checkpoint Sam couldn't wait to get back to whatever it was. According to Jack she only had today to work on it, since SG-1, accompanied by its original CO would be leaving the next day for an archeological dig on P3X-053. Apparently Daniel thought that there would be another ancient outpost there. Sam wasn't exactly sure why Jack wanted to tag along if there was the possibility that one of these things was there, but she guessed he just wanted it to feel like old times.

By the time they made it into the parking lot of the SGC Sam could see Daniel's blue CR-V in it's normal parking spot. She pulled into the open space next to it and grabbed her laptop from the backseat. As she walked past the SF's guarding the entrance and flashed her ID, Jack fell into step with her and did the same before slipping his hand into hers. They walked hand in hand to the elevators and using her free hand she pressed the only button, which would take them down to the last level of the NORAD part of the complex.

From there they had to show ID again and then enter another elevator which allowed them access to any level of the SGC, with the use of their key cards. All in all, it took ten minutes for Sam to get into her lab from the surface, but she was used to it. They parted ways with a brief kiss before the elevator doors opened, then Sam went off to her lab while Jack rode the rest of the way down to the 28th level, where his office was.

When lunch rolled around he had already called DC to inform him of his off-world mission, which required his presence because of the importance of the ancient head-sucker. Of course, he hadn't referred to it as a head-sucker; he used the technical term. They believed his excuse, or didn't care, either one was alright by him. A General West was going to be coming down to watch over all the incoming and outgoing travel for the next thirty-four hours, until Jack returned. She would arrive later that night but not come in until the next morning where he would brief her on the schedule for the next day and a half.

So, when he met up with SG-1 for lunch he filled them in on the upcoming events. After stressing the fact that SG-1 was the only team that was going on this mission to Daniel and that there was no possible way Sam could stay behind and work on her enigmatic doohickey he briefed Teal'c and Sam on the specifics of the mission.

"O'Neill, would it not be wise to send more than one archeologist to P3X-053?" Teal'c inquired, starting on his second plate of food.

"Maybe," Jack confessed. "But that's why we're going tomorrow, so we can assess the importance of these ruins. There are no archeologists on SG-7 so they had no clue what they stumbled onto. Daniel's our best guy, so it's only fitting that we're sending him first."

"I assume this is what you told the big guys in DC?" Daniel asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Jack nodded, "Basically."

It was silent for a few seconds before Sam started ranting about the unknown technology in her office. "Sir, I need more time with this, I'd like to find out what it actually does before I go back off-world and I won't have the time to do that before tomorrow morn-"

He cut her off, "Carter, it will still be there in your office when you come back. If you're worried that somebody's going to try and take it just leave the light on."

She sighed, "Sir, this could be really import-"

"Or it could be a complete and utter waste of your time." he stated.

A grin spread across his face, "We'll leave at 1100 hours tomorrow, full briefing at 1000. Until then you are all free to do whatever you feel like doing." He looked over at Sam before picking up his tray and leaving the table. "I'll see you all later, I have a mile high stack of paper beckoning."

Sam did the same, "And I have a ... doohickey calling my name. Which is actually about the only thing it doesn't do," she added with a sigh.

"You know," Daniel said, standing up as well. "I'd like to see this ... whatever it is."

"Alright," she replied. "Let's go."

Teal'c stood as well, "I would also like to view the alien technology that you have been working on, ColonelCarter."

She nodded, "OK."

The four of them made their way to the elevator, Sam pressed the button for level 23 and Jack pressed the level 28 button. They went up first, since they were only on the 24th level, then Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel exited the elevator and it went down the five flights to sub-level 28. With a sigh Jack left the elevator and made his way to his office.

Looking at his watch he sighed, SG-3 would be returning for P1Q-390 in less than five minutes. Turning his heel he walked back out of his office and down the stairs into the control room. He had an interesting debriefing ahead of him.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Ugh, it's already midnight on Monday morning and I haven't even started my homework! That's what I get for procrastinating, I guess. Anywho, I'd better get to that now if I want to get at lest five hours of sleep tonight. Ugh and I have a dissection in Biology during first period. Thank God Wednesday is my last official day before winter break. Anyway ... let me know what'cha think.**


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty-two**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, whatever. The show and the characters don't belong to me.**

**XXXX**

They were all on time for the debriefing at 1000 hours the next morning and for twenty minutes Daniel prattled on about the planet they were headed to and what he thought they would uncover there. Even though he didn't need to, Jack had already explained the situation to them at lunch the day before. Nonetheless for twenty minutes Sam and Teal'c pretended to listen to Daniel and Jack just flat out ignored him, messing with whatever he could get into his hands. Daniel didn't seem to notice any of it.

Forty minutes after that SG-1, along with it's previous leader General O'Neill, entered the 'gate room, suited up and ready to go. Davis' voice called over the intercom, "Chevron Five engaged, Chevron Six engaged, Chevron Seven is locked!" and the wormhole whooshed forward and then snapped right back.

"SG-1 and General O'Neill," his temps voice called over the intercom, "you have a go."

And with that they stepped up the ramp and through the shimmering even horizon, coming out on P3X-053.

"Alright," Sam called out to the boys, taking on her role as CO, "Teal'c and General O'Neill, you two head northwest and check out the building that SG-7 couldn't figure out and Daniel and I will head on to the ruins, we'll rendezvous there at o-one hundred hours."

They mumbled their agreements and took off in separate directions, Jack grumbling to Teal'c about being stuck with him and not Sam and Daniel prattling on about the ruins discursively. Sam wasn't sure which one of them had it worse, her or Teal'c.

**XXXX**

She got her answer at 1242 hours, when Jack came walking up to her and Daniel whining about something. Sam snapped a photo of the ancient artifact she had been studying and turned around to look at him with a sigh. "What is it, sir?"

"I did it again," he said temperamentally.

"You did what again?" She postulated, looking over at Teal'c for a straight answer. The Jaffa just raised an eyebrow and growled in annoyance.

"Got my head sucked by one of those darn head suckers," he explained with a growl of his own.

"Did you?" She asked, undaunted, studying him incredulously.

He nodded, "Yep."

Daniel, in his credulity dropped what he was doing and began to walk over to the three precipitately. But, before he was halfway there he tripped over a rock in his ineptitude, and went crashing down to the ground with a surprised curse. He bounced back up, brushed the dirt off of his pants, and carefully walked over to his teammates. "You did what?"

"General O'Neill claims to have had his head "sucked" again." Sam explained, looking at her CO skeptically.

"Really?" He asked, letting his own suspicion take over- Jack could easily be pulling their legs. "So, I was right? There was an outpost here?"

"Oh, yeah." Jack replied. "How's the kozars?" he asked, motioning towards Daniel's still dusty legs.

"Kozars?" Daniel asked, "...Oh, oh. They're fine, Jack. I'm just clumsy." It was his turn to look at Teal'c for answers, "When did this happen?"

The Jaffa did not answer; he just stood stoically and once again let out an annoyed growl.

"Sir, if you really did have the knowledge of the ancients downloaded into your brain, again, we'll have to return to work immediately and contact the Asguard so they can remove the knowledge." Sam told him with a sigh.

"I understand, Colonel," he replied unrelenting.

Neither her or Daniel were buying it. "You and Sam go ahead," he told Jack, "Teal'c can take me to the outpost so I can study it more."

"You don't want to come and make sure I'm adert?" Jack asked, a hurt expression on his face.

"Adert?" Sam asked with an amused smile.

"Yeah, adert, you know, fine, healthy, not in physical danger?" he explained.

Daniel just shrugged, "It's happened to you twice before, the Asguard can take care of it."

Jack scowled, aware that they didn't buy his act, "Damn you two. You're no fun."

Sam and Daniel just laughed in reply.

"Come on sir," Sam exclaimed, "did you really think we'd buy that?"

"I was planning on it," he replied. "You are both too smart for your own good." He scowled again, "This is boring."

"You wanted to come, Jack." Daniel reminded him, "You knew it wouldn't be any fun for you, but you insisted on coming."

"I know," Jack told him. "I only came so I could order Carter to spend the day with me on the beach."

Sam went back to the artifact she had been looking at before Jack interrupted her, "I didn't bring a suit, sir."

"I brought one for you," he said with a grin.

She threw a look over her shoulder, "You're being serious?"

He nodded.

"Alright, I guess if it's an order...." she set the artifact back down and followed Jack to where he left his bag. "Teal'c will help you, Daniel" she called over her shoulder as they walked off. The Jaffa nodded at him and walked off towards a different end of the ruins, pausing only to grab the camera where Sam had left it.

Daniel watched Teal'c as he walked off, he was studying the camera attentively. In his study of the object he must have pressed a button, because a flash went off right in his eyes and it caused him to stumble a bit, which was very uncharacteristic of him. He had worked with camera's before and Daniel wondered why he was having so much trouble with that one in particular. It was newer, so maybe he just wasn't used to the model? Nonetheless a few seconds later another flash went off.

And Daniel scowled.

**XXXX**

Jack spread the blanket down on the shore and laid down on it, slipping on his sunglasses and sighing with content. "Isn't this better?" he asked Sam as she lay down next to him.

"Better than what?" she inquired, turning on her side to face him.

"Looking at rocks."

She grinned, "Yes, sir. Much better."

"No sir," he ordered. "We're relaxing Carter, my name is Jack."

"Fine, then no Carter's either."

"I can live with that," he told her.

She laid back down and wriggled around until she found the perfect spot and then she was still for about ten minutes, whereupon she flipped around and lay on her stomach, pushing her sunglasses up to the top of her head. "You really thought of everything, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And this is the only reason you came?"

"No," he explained, "It's been awhile since I've been off-world with you guys, and the last time I did things didn't exactly turn out great. There is no room for disaster here. We're in paradise, what could go wrong?"

"Well, Jack..." she said, "the last time we went to a planet that looked like a paradise we returned with Urgo."

He groaned, "I'm relaxing Sam, don't mention that ... thing while I'm relaxing."

She giggled, "Sorry."

He turned and lay on his stomach, as well. Taking his sunglasses off he sighed, "This is different, this is real."

"Maybe," she said with a grin. "Who knows?"

He snorted, "You're too difficult, you know?"

"I know," she replied, kissing him briefly, "and you love it."

"Yeah," he sighed, "I do."

**XXXX**

They only spent ten minutes tanning after that before Jack convinced her to go into the planet's clear blue ocean with him. She was hesitant at first, who knew what kind of creatures lived in it. But, after he begged for nearly five minutes, promising that if anything should try and eat her he would save her, she gave in. Although, she made him promise they wouldn't go into the water farther than waist deep. He agreed.

Five minutes after they got into the ocean Sam felt something brush against her legs and shouted out to Jack in surprise. In one swift movement she had nearly jumped on top of him, looking down at the clear blue water. The thing that had brushed up against her leg was still swimming in the area she had been standing, it looked like a clown fish, only much bigger. Laughing at herself she backed away from Jack and went closer to the fish to inspect it, it swam away as soon as she was within ten feet of it.

"It's just a fish," Jack told her amused. "Don't get so worked up, Sam."

"Well, how do you know it's not a pirana of some kind?" she asked him, only half serious. "It could have taken a huge chunk out of my leg."

"That's true, but not likely."

"We've seen stranger things, Jack." she scolded.

"Also true." he made his way through the waters towards her. "Relax, Sam. We came here so that we could relax on a beautiful beach with nobody to interrupt, and you're gonna ruin that because of some big honking orange fish?" He kissed her briefly and then smiled mischievously before leaning forward and causing her to fall backwards all the way under the water. When she came back up her hair was stuck to her face and a look of pure shock danced in her eyes.

"Jonathan O'Neill!" she cried out before lunging at him, pushing him under the water.

When he came back up the look on his face mirrored the look that had been on Sam's only a few seconds prior. He hadn't been expecting her to retaliate, at least not like that. For at least ten minutes after that they continued to dunk each other under the water, then attempt to escape while the other retaliated. It might have been a bit juvenile, but they were making up for lost time.

Almost two hours later Daniel and Teal'c came walking down the beach, looking a bit worse for wear. Sam and Jack had long since left the ocean and found their way underneath what looked very much like a palm tree. The shade provided relief from the hot sun, as well as kept them from burning badly. Then again, they had put on sunblock, but this planet's sun was much closer in proximity than that of earth and it's sun, so they weren't taking any chances- at least, Sam wasn't.

"So, Danny boy," Jack asked when the two came into view. "Found any interesting rocks?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." he replied with a smug grin. "But, that's not why I'm here."

"Oh?" Sam asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Daniel assured her. "Teal'c and I wanted a break. If you two can soak up the sun, why can't we?"

"Nobody said you couldn't," Jack informed him.

Daniel sighed and sat down next to Sam, "Teal'c broke the camera."

"He what?" she asked, surprised. "How?"

"He hurled it at the ground."

Jack looked over at the annoyed Jaffa. "Why?"

The large man looked at the three and raised an eyebrow, "It did not take photographs."

"What do you mean, it wouldn't take the pictures?" Sam asked, trying to hide the smile that wanted to spread across her face. She was doing her best not to picture Teal'c throwing a camera at the ground.

"Indeed."

"Why not?" this question was directed towards Daniel.

The archeologist sighed, "Batteries went out."

"So, you threw it at the ground?"

"Indeed."

"Oh, ok. As long as you had a good reason."

Daniel sent him a look, "Jack!"

"What?!"

"We only brought two camera's with us."

"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you be out taking pictures of rocks or something?"

"I told you- I wanted a break."

"Right. Soak up the sun.... Then why are you in the shade?"

"I burn easily."

"Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't you 'nothing' me, Jack. What did you mean?"

Sam glanced over at Teal'c, he looked about as annoyed as she felt. With one nod of the head she told him she was going to head back into the ocean, and he nodded in his normal way and followed her. Even though he was still wearing his fatigues. Anything was better than listening to Jack and Daniel argue over nothing.

"It doesn't mean anything, Daniel. That's what 'nothing' means. Not anything."

"Jack, what did you mean buy that?"

"By what?"

"You said 'of course you do'. What did that mean?"

"It meant, of course you do."

"Jack!"

"What?!"

By that time Sam was already in the ocean and Teal'c was standing by the shore, watching the waves roll in. He had never been to the beach on earth, and this was only one of the first few beach planets he had even been able to really enjoy. There was a light breeze coming off the water and from the looks of the sun it was getting ready to set. For Sam and Teal'c everything was peaceful, except for the occasional shout they could hear coming from by the palm like trees.

"What did you mean?"

"What do you mean, what did I mean?"

"Jack!"

"What?!"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Sorry if that was terrible. It's early, I'm tired. I really wanted to get this chapter over with, so I just.... Well ... you know what I mean. Muse takes over, things go from there. Anyway, I wouldn't even be updating this if it wasn't for the fact that I remembered I had half of this chapter on a disk somewhere. Like my profile says, the laptop I got for Christmas doesn't have a floppy disk drive, so I am having trouble updating. Although, I'm getting the internet on it soon, so I'll update my other stories then.  
**

**Anyway, please tell me what you think. Even if it's bad.**


	23. Chapter Twetny Three

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Three**

**Disclaimer: The show doesn't belong to me and the characters don't, either. But, I have a few small roles in here that are mine and only mine... so at least there is that much!**

**XXXX**

_Friday Night:_

They stepped out of the wormhole and found themselves exactly where they should be- the embarkation room of th e SGC. After instructing Daniel, Teal'c, and Sam to head with him to the infirmary and then to the locker rooms he took off down the hallway, reading to get his check up with Brightman or Carmichael or whoever the doctor on duty was.

A little over an hour later he found himself at the door of Sam's office, peering inside. Yep- he had been right. She was there. Working on the damned enigmatic doohickey of hers. He looked at his watch, it was almost 2230, way past time to go home. "Colonel Carter," he barked, figuring that she would respond to military mode quicker than otherwise.

She looked up at him, "Yes sir?"

"Pack it up- you're going home." he ordered, walking into the room. "Or, rather you're going to my home."

As tempting as the offer sounded Sam had no intention on leaving her office for at least five more hours. "I'm fine, sir. I can sleep in my quarters tonight."

"Colonel?" he asked, sitting down in front of her desk. "Are you defying a direct order?"

She looked up from her work, "Did you give me a direct order, sir?"

"Yes," he told her. "I did."

"You're ordering me to go home with you?" she mused. "I wonder how that would sound to a military judge and jury...."

His eyes narrowed on her, "Oh... that's just wrong."

A smug smile of triumph manifested on her face, "I swear I'll sleep, Jack. You're the one who made me go on that mission for no reason when I should have been here studying this _thing_ but no, you wanted to go soak up the sun and work on your tan. This could be important, I need to figure it out."

"You're not going to do that when it's an hour away from midnight, Sam. I swear if you come back to my place- or even home- you can work on it all day tomorrow."

She sighed, "Fine- but only because I'm tired."

It was his turn to smile smugly, "Of course it is. Your place, or mine?"

"Both," she stated. "You go to your place, I go to mine. Otherwise, I won't get any sleep."

The grin on his face no had nothing to do with smugness, "We'll... that's kind of what I had in mind."

"My point exactly," she said, pulling on her coat. "I'll see you tomorrow, sir."

He pulled her into his arms as she tried to brush past him and kissed her deeply. "Pleasant dreams, Colonel."

After another brief kiss she pulled out of his arms, "Oh- I'm sure they will be." She smacked his backside and with a wink she left the room and headed for the surface, leaving Jack standing in her office looking cheated. With a scowl he headed for his office to gather his things and head back to his place.

**XXXX**

_One month later_

"Unauthorized off-world activation!" Davis' voice yelled over the intercom. "Unauthorized off-world activation!"

Jack sprinted from his office down the stairs into the control room and stood in front of the glass, his arms folded across his chest, watching. SG-1 had gone through the 'Gate only ten minutes prior and thousands of situations were buzzing in his mind, taunting him. This was the worst part about his job, something was wrong.

"Do we have an IDC?" he barked, not bothering to look over at the sergeant.

"Not yet...." a few seconds later he spoke again, "It's SG-1, sir."

Before Walter finished his sentence Jack spit out, "Open the iris!" and ran down to the embarkation room. The titanium iris swirled open, reveling a shimmering, blue puddle and Jack waited impatiently. Within seconds Teal'c and Sam came rushing into the room, supporting Daniel between the two of them.

"Close the iris!" Sam yelled, and it instantly closed.

"What happened?" Jack asked, taking in the blood that was seeping through the calf of Daniel's fatigues.

"The locals weren't very friendly, sir." Sam informed him, "Shot Daniel in the leg while we were retreating... some kind of automatic weapon, it looked like an old revolver, something from the 1800's."

"Take him to the infirmary." Jack ordered, although they already knew to do so. "Then get checked out, cleaned up, and in the briefing room at 0930." It was just after 0800 at the moment, so they would have plenty of time to stick around the infirmary and make sure Daniel wasn't hurt too badly. Jack himself planned to head there in around twenty minutes, by then Teal'c and Sam would be showering and Daniel would be sedated for the surgery he would undoubtedly need in order to remove the bullet. And Daniel sedated was something that Jack felt everybody should experience once in their lives. The man knew over 20 languages, and each one of those languages made an appearance... and the man never made sense.

When Jack made it to the infirmary Daniel was spitting out something in German- Jack new a little German and he distinctly heard Daniel say something about the dog being in his coffee again. The man then switched to a language that nobody in the room had the pleasure of knowing, so what he was saying went unbeknownst to everybody.

Doctor Brightman ordered him out of the infirmary while they were operating on Daniel. Jack wasn't surprised- she wasn't as strict or scary as Janet had been, but she was getting closer each day. Jack protested a bit, wanting to hear what else Daniel had to ramble about but then figured he'd better go get started on his report. Daniel would be the death of him one day, that was for sure.

At ten minutes after 0900 Sam walked into his office, not even bothering to knock. She knew Jack would be working on the report about Daniel's injury and figured he'd welcome the break. Besides, it had been awhile since they last saw each other. Before she left for the mission to P8Q-253 she had been on a week long mission to P1S-900. They only had a 20 hour period of downtime between the two missions and she had spent most of the time working on her mission report.

"Hey," she greeted, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "How's the report going?"

He looked up from his desk and scowled, "Blah."

"That well?"

"Ooh," he sighed, "and then some."

She grinned and got out of her seat, then walked over to his desk and promptly sat on his lap, kissing him deeply. "That better?" she asked when she broke away.

"Very much so, Colonel." he replied, snaking his arm around her waist.

"I thought it would help," she supplied with a shrug.

"Oh?" he asked, "So it had nothing to do with you missing me?"

"Well..." she pretended to think about it. "Maybe... just a little bit."

"Sure," a grin stretched across his face. "A gun from the 1800s, huh?"

"Late 1800's..." she corrected. After taking in his strange look she smiled, "What? My brother's a cop... I know these things."

"Right." he chuckled. "Of course."

She swatted at him playfully, "What does it matter anyway?"

He shook his head, "It doesn't... I was just curious."

It was her turn to be incredulous, "Sure... whatever."

Pulling back out of his grasp she kissed him briefly, "I'm going to go check on Daniel."

"I wouldn't if I was you... Brightman's getting territorial."

She smiled, "Trust me, I have my ways." Glancing at her clock she sighed, "I'll be back in ten minutes."

He nodded, "And I'll be here working on my report."

"Have fun," she suggested with a smile.

"You know I will." he called after her as she left the office. Then, he went back to work.

**XXXX**

"The denizens of P8Q-253 were not a friendly people." Teal'c said cryptically.

"Well... yes, I figured that out by the bullet in Daniel's leg." Jack replied, "But why did you retreat in the first place?"

Sam decided that she would be better at explaining things and took over where Teal'c left off. "Upon our arrival we were met by a group of men with _older_ looking guns. My best guess would be that they were like revolvers. When we explained that we were explores from another world and simply wanted to make contact and get to know them they invited us back to their village. What we didn't know at the time was that they hadn't invited us back to get to know us.... They were cannibals, sir."

"Cannibals?" He repeated, recoiling with a mixture of shock and disgust.

Teal'c nodded, "Indeed, General O'Neill. They consumed human flesh."

"Thank you for that description, Teal'c." Jack said with a cough. He turned to Sam, "Continue, Colonel."

"By the time we got to the village we had figured things out and I ordered a retreat. While they were preoccupied we made a run for it and they followed us, they got Daniel in the leg while he was dialing back home and then Teal'c and I helped him through the 'Gate."

Jack nodded, "Ok- this debriefing has been disturbing on so many levels.... You're dismissed."

Teal'c got up from his chair and left the room while Sam stayed behind. "We should have left as soon as we got there." she said absently, Jack wondered for a second if she was even talking to him- but there was nobody else in the room, so she must have been.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, sitting back down in his chair.

"I knew something was wrong. The looks that they were giving us... they weren't normal. Kind of like a cat with a mouse, toying with it before it ultimately has it for dinner. I knew that there was something about them that just wasn't right, I ignored it. I don't know why I did, but I ignored it."

"Sam," Jack started, "there's no way you could have known that about them. It's not your fault."

"Daniel was shot," she told him as if he hadn't already noticed. "If I had gone with my gut feeling and left then he would be alright and we wouldn't have to be on downtime until he got better."

"Don't kid yourself, Sam." he told her. "If you guys had left right away whose to say they wouldn't have just shot you all on the spot? If you questioned their intentions then it's a good thing you didn't make that immediately apparent. They could have gotten scared and killed you where you stood."

She thought it over and then sighed, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," he said as a matter-of-factly. "Now... go home and get some rest. You've been running on empty since last week."

"I'm fine, sir." She informed him. "I'll leave later."

"No, Colonel, you'll leave now." He stood up, "I'll be home around 7."

"Whose home?" she asked, too exhausted to argue with him.

"Well," he stated, "mine has fresh groceries."

That was the deciding factor. "Sounds good. I'll make something for dinner."

He made a face before he could stop himself.

"Hey!" she cried out playfully. "I can cook when I put my mind to it."

"You can do anything if you put your mind to it, Sam." He smiled, "Except cooking."

She threw her pen at him, "Fine, I'll order out."

He grinned, "I could court martial you for striking a superior officer, you know."

"Fine," she shrugged. "Court martial me. But then I'll be in jail and you'll be alone."

The grin on his face disappeared. "Oh... right."

Shaking her head she made her way over to him and kissed him briefly, "I'll see you later."

"Right... bye, Sam." She headed out the door, "And get some sleep! That's an order."

"Sir, yes sir!" She called as she left the room.

Sighing to himself he picked up the preliminary mission report and headed to his office. He had a long day of writing ahead of him.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Ok, so I think that this story will be ending soon. Maybe around chapter 25 and an epilogue. But, I'm not sure. I'm just guesstimating, really. So... tell me what'cha think.**


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**Disclaimer: Nope- doesn't belong to me. Thanks for asking though.**

**XXXX**

_Two months later:_

She woke up early, more so than she normally did. When she poked her head out of her tent it was still pitch black outside and she could vaguely hear crickets chirping in the distance. Which wasn't very odd- there were normally familiar animals or bugs on other planets. Glancing at her wrist-watch she sighed, it was only 0426, it had only been a little over two hours since Teal'c relieved her of her watch. So, why was she awake?

A deep rumble brought her out of her musings and she understood what had waken her. There was a storm on the way... and it was getting close. The deep rumble turned into a sharp crackle and a flash of bright, white light invaded her tent. Oh yeah- it was coming.

Sliding out of her sleeping bag she glanced around for her flashlight. When another flash of lightning broke through the darkness she spotted it, turned it on, and made her way out of the tent. Teal'c was sitting in front of a dying fire, staring off into the darkness. From the slant of his head she figured he was watching the sky- contemplating how long it would take until the storm arrived.

"Teal'c," she whispered. The Jaffa turned and looked at her. "How long has it been doing this?"

"A storm has been coming for approximately half an hour, Colonel Carter. It appears to be a strong one." he turned back to look at the sky just as a loud crash of thunder broke through the silent night- causing even Teal'c to jump slightly. "I do not think it wise that we stay on this planet any longer, Colonel Carter."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Neither do I..... Let's get Daniel up and start packing to go."

He gave her the usual half-nod, "I will wake DanielJackson."

"'K," she went back to her tent to pack her things up as quickly as she could. The storm was promising to be a bad one, and with each second it was getting closer.

**XXXX**

As soon as Daniel placed his hand over the red activator on the DHD the rain made an appearance. Freezing, hard, stinging rain that pounded with such an intensity that she was sure if they were exposed to it long enough it could eventually draw blood. Or at least leave them covered in welts.

Thankfully, they wouldn't have to stay out in the rain long since within seconds of Daniel dialing the 'gate she entered her IDC and they went on through. Jack was waiting for them on the other end, took in their soaked appearances, and let out a relieved sigh.

"What's up?" he asked as the 'gate shut back down.

"Bad storm," Daniel replied sleepily. He had been having a very good dream when Teal'c had woken him up and was still a bit sore about it. Jack looked at Daniel like he was an idiot.

"Well... yeah- the fact that you're all soaked kind of gave that away."

Daniel threw his hands up in defense, "Hey... you're the one who asked."

Jack looked over at Sam, "Can you give me some more information, please?"

She nodded, "I'd like to change out of these wet clothes first, sir."

"Of course... go change and get checked out and then we'll meet at 0700."

They all grumbled their replies and sulked out of the rooms, looking a bit worse for wear. All headed straight for the locker rooms first. A little over an hour later they were dry, given a clean bill of health, and sitting around the briefing room table.

"Alright," Jack asked. "So... now will somebody explain what happened on 352?"

Sam answered him, "There was a storm coming, sir. A pretty bad one, at that. We were already scheduled to return at 0800, and there was no sense in staying around for a vicious storm."

Made sense- there was nothing else they could do on the planet, which was why they were scheduled to return so early in the morning. Just enough time to wake up, pack up, and get to the 'gate. Nothing further was needed.

'Ok," getting off that subject he questioned them on their mission. "Carter, did you do your little sample thing?"

"Yes, sir." she assured him. "I brought the soil and plant samples to Dr. Robinson already."

He nodded then looked at Daniel, "Find any interesting rocks?"

The young archeologist shook his head solemnly, "Not this time."

Jack didn't seem as depressed about that as Daniel did, "Alright then... anything I should know about specifically- or can I just wait for your mission reports?"

"Do you intend on reading them?" Sam asked, surprised. When she took in the look that he gave her she quickly added the appropriate, "Sir" at the end of her sentence.

"Yes, _Colonel_, I intend on reading them." The tone of his voice would leave one assuming he was mad, but the sparkle in his eyes let her know he was just playing around. "I always do."

"Then, no sir. There's nothing of any significance that requires immediate attention."

"Then you're all dismissed...." he informed them.

The three members of SG-1 stood from their seats and exited the door, sans Sam who stayed behind to talk with Jack. Or- while at work, General O'Neill. "Sir..." she asked, walking around the table and closer to him, "is there something wrong?" It wasn't that she actually thought that he was mad, because she had distinctly saw a smile in his eyes- but it was always better to be thorough.

"Not at all, Carter," he assured her. "Why? Do I seem like there's something wrong?"

"No, sir. I was just wondering...."

"Well... dinner tonight at 1900," he offered. "That ok by you?"

She grinned, "It sounds wonderful sir, where at?"

He thought a moment, "Uh... I feel like Japanese, so Motto's."

"Japanese is good, I'll meet you on the surface at 1800?"

"Let's say 1730 to be on the safe side."

Good. That left her with nearly nine hours to work on the power source SG-4 brought back from P2S-336.

"And Carter... you can expect me to be dropping by every now and then. Make sure you take a break and don't stare at that weird doohickey all day long."

Damn. He knew her to well. "Sir," she nodded, heading out the door, "yes, sir."

**XXXX**

It was 1740 when she finally made her way to the surface. She figured she'd just go with Jack to the restaurant, stay over at his house that night, and bring her car home the next day after work. He was already waiting in his truck for her and she smiled sheepishly when he questioned her why she was late- although they both knew the reason.

"I'm sorry, Jack... I lost track of time," she confessed as she snapped on her seat-belt.

"Oh?" he asked. "And, why was that?"

"Well... I was running a simulation on the energy pack that SG-4 brought back." She turned on the radio and began to flip through the stations, stopping when she came across a song that she knew.

"Oh, come on Sam... do we have to listen to this?" he motioned towards the radio and the song that was playing.

"What's wrong with Sarah McLachlan?" she asked.

"Nothing specifically..." he pointed out. "I'm just not in the mood to listen to angst."

"Fine," she said, changing the station again. She passed by oldies and he sent her a look, which she promptly ignored. If she couldn't listen to Sarah McLachlan then he couldn't listen to _that_. Not that she didn't like some oldies music, she did love Elvis, but some things she could just not deal with.

Finally deciding to just leave the radio off she sat back in her seat and sighed. It was nice to be back home and going out to eat. Rather than being on a freezing cold planet eating barely edible, if not highly distasteful, MRE's. But, she had been eating the things for song long that she had grown a type of immunity within her taste-buds. Which, she was very thankful for.

Around twenty minutes later they pulled into his driveway and then changed quickly. The restaurant was a good fifteen minutes away so by the time they got there it would be close to 1830- and hopefully if there was an open table they could get seated before their reservations.

And, they did just that. Motto's wasn't a very formal restaurant, but it was fairly crowded. Sam and Jack were seated at a booth, asked what type of drink they wanted, Sam got a diet coke and Jack got a beer, then left alone to look over the menu. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Jack put his menu down, then took her's out of her hands, making her look over at him.

"Jack?" she asked, confused as to why he would just take her menu away without explanation.

"You already know what you want," he told her. Which was true. She always got the same thing and today wasn't going to be any different. "We need to talk."

And, she got even more confused. "Talk? About what?" What could they possibly have to talk about? They weren't having problems... at least she didn't think they were. "Is there something wrong?"

He shook his head, "No... not in the slightest. In fact, it's exactly the opposite."

"Oh?" she wasn't going to argue with him. That had been what she thought in the first place. "So... what do we need to talk about then?"

"I want you to move in with me," he informed her with a slight grin.

"Really?" she questioned. "Are you sure?"

He grinned, "Of course I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

She shook her head, "It's a big step, Jack."

"I think we're ready for it," he said. "Don't you?"

"Of course I do- and I'd love to move in with you. But, I want you to be sure about this first. You sure you can give up the bachelor life?"

"I think I'll be able to manage." he said with a sigh. "It's a small price to pay."

A grin stretched across her face, "I'm going to have to get in touch with dad."

Jack did a double take, "What? Why?"

"Relax... it was his house before he 'moved', after all. I need to let him know that I'm not going to be living there anymore and see what he wants to do with it."

"He didn't live there long, though, did he? I mean, he only moved in a couple of months before he 'moved out of the country'."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, but just to make sure." She took a sip of her soda, "When are you wanting to do all of this?"

"You've got weeks of piled up downtime, so do Daniel and Teal'c, and I can always give myself some time off. I figure that if we sucker them into helping us we can get started Friday and finish like Monday or Tuesday...."

She nodded, "And you're certain you're sure about this?"

"Hey... if you don't want to-"

"No," she assured him. "Of course I want to. I just want you to be sure that you want me to."

"Sam," he said with a chuckle, "I'm the one who brought it up. Could you not over-analyze the situation for once in your life?"

"Sorry," she sighed. "It's a habit."

"And, it's normally a good one- when it's our lives on the line. However, at this particular moment, you don't need to."

She grinned, reached across the table, taking his hand in hers and giving it a light squeeze. "Alright... I won't over-analyze the situation any more. And, I would love to move in with you."

"You see, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Not at all," she smiled.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Alright, so I'm pretty sure there's only like one or two more chapters left in this one. But, then again, I might be wrong. I sometimes am when it comes to ending stories. Anyway... let me know what'cha think about this one. Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I stayed up late just so I could get it out quicker.**


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty- Five**

**Disclaimer: Yeah- I wish they belonged to me. But, since I don't get everything I wish for, they're not. Darn, life is so unfair.**

**A/N: Yeah, I don't see Jack having a problem with giving up bachelor life for Sam either- which is why he did :)**

**A/N/2: Yeah, I know Star Wars is mentioned very briefly down here... If I did something wrong with it, sorry- I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies.**

**XXXX**

"Alright," Daniel said, setting down a large box in the middle of Jack's living room. "That's the last one."

"The last one?" Sam echoed. "Really?"

The young archeologist nodded, "There's nothing left in Jack's truck."

"You did sell a lot of stuff, Sam." Jack pointed out, surveying the boxes that cluttered his living room. "And, this isn't exactly a small amount of boxes."

"I just thought I had more things than this," she said with a sigh.

"You do," he assured her. "But, most of it is in your office at the SGC."

"True," she looked over at Daniel and Teal'c, "Thank you guys for helping me move."

"No problem," Daniel informed her. "We were only in it for the steaks anyway."

"Indeed," Teal'c said with a look that told her otherwise.

"So," Daniel inquired, taking a seat on the sofa, "what did your dad say when you told him you were selling the house?"

She shrugged, "He just reminded me to make sure I got a good price for it."

"Oh," he replied. "Well, how much did you get for it?"

"A real-estate agency bought it from me for 145,00." she sat down on the sofa next to him and sighed. "I really didn't have the time to deal with selling a house."

"That's true." Daniel looked over at Jack, "Well...? You gonna get started on my dinner or what?"

Jack shrugged, "Whatever the or what is."

"That would be my dinner," Sam said with a grin.

**XXXX**

Forty-five minutes later, SG-1, along with it's former CO, General O'Neill, were sitting at the dining-room table of said general's home. It was still too cold to do much of anything outside, let alone eat on the beck deck, so for now the table would have to do. It was nearing 1800 hours, and somehow Sam had conned both Daniel and Teal'c into staying and helping her unpack. Jack was still oblivious as to how she had done so, but she did have a way with people.

So, after they finished dinner they all crammed back into the living room which was full with boxes and began to search through them. Luckily for Sam, Jack's house was a three-bedroom. A master bedroom- which she and Jack would share, and two guest rooms- each with a double bed and dresser. What Sam had come up with was simple, move the bed from the smallest guest bedroom into the bigger one, the dresser into the master bedroom for her, and clear out all the odd's and end's in the small guest bed- then she could have an at-home office. Which, Jack didn't have any objections to- as long as it got her away from work more often. He was way past annoyed with ordering her off the base.

While Teal'c and Jack moved the furniture around Sam and Daniel worked on figuring out which box went where. By the time that they came back into the living room there were three piles, two fairly large, and one not so much. The largest were the boxes that needed to be moved to her office, the second largest held her clothes and other things which needed to be brought into the bedroom/ conjoining bathroom, and the last held the few cooking utensils that she owned. It seemed to her that Jack didn't really have much to cook with, so instead of selling hers like she had done with most of her belongings she brought them with her.

She didn't feel like continuing to unpack after they had moved every box into its respected room, so they all sat down in front of the TV and watched a movie. It was Teal'c's night to pick- his choice was, of course, the Star Wars trilogy. But, since it was already after 2000 hours they only watched the first two, then Daniel went home, taking Teal'c with him rather than driving him all the way back to the base.

"Well," Sam sighed as Daniel's CR-V drove out of sight. "What now?"

Jack smiled suggestively, "Oh... I can think of a few things."

**XXXX**

_5 weeks later:_

Sam was waken by a small, unrecognizable sound in her ear, and then tiny but sharp teeth began to chew on said ear. Pulling away, now fully awake, she turned quickly, and her eyes fell upon the reason she was awake.

There, sitting on her bed, was a gray and white puppy. Her best guess was that it was a Husky puppy. She didn't know who it belonged to or how it got into her house, but she fell in love with it instantly. It's big, blue eyes stared at her happily and it's pink tongue was hanging out of it's mouth. "Hi..." she greeted the small animal. "Who do you belong to?"

The puppy barked in response, then hopped over to her. She picked it up and examined it more closely.

"Oh, so you're a girl, then." she told the puppy, who once again barked, and gave her hand a sloppy lick. Obviously she agreed with Sam's assessment.

Sam picked the small pup up, "Let's go find your owner, then." She slid out from under the bed and out of the bedroom. When she reached the living room she was surprised to find it empty. The same thing with the kitchen. In fact, after searching the whole house she had yet to find Jack, or the puppy's owner. When she was done looking through the house she decided that the backyard would be the next best place to look. It turned out, that's where she should have looked in the first place. Because, once she opened the backdoor, a large, gray and white Husky came running towards her. She assumed that's where the small pup that she held in her arms had come from.

"Hey," she greeted the large dog with a smile and a pat on the head. "Are you this little one's mom?"

The larger dog's tail wagged and she (or he- Sam was confidant that it was a she, though) stuck her nose into Sam's palm. By that time Jack had noticed that Sam was awake and had ventured outside. He got up from his chair and made his way over to her. As she noticed Jack she also noticed the teenager that was sitting in his backyard, surrounded by different colored Husky puppies.

So, that's where the little rascal who had woken her up came from.

The puppy barked, as if she had known that she was being thought of. She was cute, Sam had to admit. Very cute, indeed.

The brunette girl had also noticed that Sam was awake, because she proceeded in picking up the four or five puppies and carrying them over to the deck, where she then set them down. They all immediately ran and surrounded their mother, or father, Sam still wasn't sure of the gender of the larger dog. Sam set the puppy which had waken her down and she too went off towards her mother.

"Jack?" she questioned, looking over at him. "What's going on?"

"Well," he explained. "You remember Chloe from across the street, right?"

Sam nodded. Now wonder she had thought the larger dog was female, it was Sierra, the dog that had run into Jack when he was still struggling with his memories. God, that seemed like such a long time since then. "Yeah... and?"

"And, Sierra had puppies a few weeks ago." he continued. "Chloe was wondering if we would like to buy one."

"Buy one?" she asked, "How much is she selling them for?"

Chloe spoke up, "Well... we don't breed Sierra or anything, but we do have a male husky and... I'm sure you get the picture. Si here had seven puppies, two of them gray, two brown, and the other three black... only two are girls. So, since we didn't intend on having puppies mom just said whatever offer sounds good to me is fine. Since Si is my dog."

"They're Siberian?" Sam asked, petting Sierra and watching the puppies play with each other.

"Yes, ma'am, they are." Chloe replied with a grin. "Beautiful, aren't they?

Sam nodded, "I've always loved Huskies... that one that was on my bed. How did she get there?"

Jack grinned, "She was sleeping when Chloe brought her over, so we thought we'd let her finish her nap with you."

She looked through the mass of different colored pups and found the two gray ones. She picked one of them up, "Oh... this isn't her. This is a boy." She put the gray puppy back down and picked the other gray one up, "Here she is." The pup barked in response.

"Do you want one?" Jack asked, giving Sierra an affectionate pet.

"How could we take care of a puppy when we're always at work?" she inquired, cradling the small puppy in her arms.

"I'd figure something out," he assured her. "I am the general, ya know." He looked over at Chloe, "Well take the one that Sam has. How much?"

"Oh, Jack... it really doesn't matter to me, I know that she'll have a good home here. How much do you have on you?"

He dug out his wallet and counted the bills in it, "36 dollars."

Chloe shrugged, "That's fine with me."

"She's already had all of her shots... we started feeding them Purina One, but whatever brand you want to buy is fine. If you have any problems or questions you know where to find me." she picked up the pups one by one and put them in the box she had brought them over in. "So, I guess you and your fiancé..."

"We broke up," Sam confirmed for her.

"So, now you and Jack?"

Sam nodded.

"Well... good luck with the puppy, she's a sweetie so I doubt you'll have any problems."

"Have you named them yet?" Jack asked her before she took off.

Chloe shook her head, "Nope. You can name her whatever you want." She then took off out the door and called Sierra with her. She barked once and followed her through the sliding glass door.

"So," Jack asked when Chloe had left. "What are you going to name her?"

"I don't know..." she sighed. "Maybe Misty, because of the gray in her coat. Do you like that? Misty? ...I'm not sure about it."

"You don't have to name her right this instant, Sam... think about it for a little while." He pet the small puppy who was still snuggled in Sam's arms, once again napping. "We should invite Danny and T over, it's your turn to pick the movie."

"Sounds good... you going to cook?"

He shook his head, "Nah. We'll order some pizza."

"You and I could make a cake..." Sam suggested with a grin. "We haven't had cake in awhile."

"Chocolate cake," he agreed. "What about the puppy?"

Sam smiled, "Well... you can make a cake, I'll watch the little one."

"Why do I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick here?" Jack asked her.

"Hey, you don't have to make a cake if you don't want one."

"No, I'm gonna make one. But you can't have any of it."

She gave him a once over, "If you keep that up cake won't be the only thing I won't have any of."

He contemplated her statement for a second, "Fine... but only one piece."

She grinned and kissed him gently, "I'm gonna take the puppy to Petsmart... get her some food, toys, and a place for her to sleep when she gets bigger."

"Hmm," he kissed her back, "don't take too long."

"I won't," she promised, looking around the room for her purse. It was lying on the coffee table in the living room, "I'll be back in a bit."

He nodded, pet the puppy carefully, and kissed her on the cheek. "Have fun."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Ok, so the next one might be the last chapter. If not, then the one that comes after it will be.**

**Anyway, let me know.**


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Six**

**Disclaimer: Nah, the show and the character's don't belong to me. Chloe does, so does her dog Sierra, and all the puppies. Also, Sam's new dog- whatever her name is- is my property, as well.**

**XXXX**

She had spent a bit more time at the store than she had initially planned on. But, it had been years since she had a pet, and even then it had been a cat. A puppy was something that she hadn't owned since her teenage years, and as she recalled it wasn't a walk in the park then. She was so cute though, there was no way Sam could have said no, and thankfully she was small enough that Sam could carry her around in one arm while she pushed the shopping cart with the other.

One thing she learned while shopping was that her new puppy was very, very curious by nature. Whenever Sam got close enough to an isle she would try and wiggle out of her arms so that she could investigate. Barking too, she was a barker. Granted, she wasn't very loud yet, but she tried with all her might, Sam had to give her that.

As she did her shopping she continued to think over what she would name her new pup. Misty just didn't fit the husky right, that sort of name went with a puppy that would stay small, not grow to be a medium-sized dog. Something to do with the color of her coat, maybe... but not much went well with white an d gray. So, she set naming the pup aside for the time-being and focused on the treats she would get her.

"What about this?" she asked, holding a ball in front of the small puppy. She sniffed it, barked twice, then paid it no-mind. "So, that's a no?" Sam asked, only half-expecting for the dog to not answer. Barking once more, this time at the sound of Sam's voice, the puppy began to lick her arm. Sam laughed and scratched the pup's head, distracting her enough so she wouldn't continue to slobber on her arm. "I should guess not," she told the puppy with a sigh, "you're still far too young for such toys."

They searched around a little bit more, but in the end Sam left with puppy food, a leash and collar for when she was a bit larger, a food dish, a place to sleep that Sam was sure she wouldn't be using for at least a week, maybe longer, and a small squishy chew toy for when her teeth began to come in more fully. The puppy didn't seem to mind that she wasn't getting much, it was new to her so she was perfectly fine. The whole way back home she sat in the passenger's seat floor board and attempted to chew on the toy, but could only gum it.

Even though they had only bought a little it had taken well over an hour and a half, and by the time Sam returned home the cake was sitting on the counter, cooling off before it could be iced. She set the puppy down, along with the bed and toy she had bought her, and watched as she ran around the house, sniffing anything lying low enough to the ground, and barking at anything that dare stand in her way.

"Sam?" Jack called, coming out of the bathroom, "what took so long?"

"Have you ever been to a Petsmart?" She questioned.

He shook his head, "Can't say I've had the pleasure."

"If you had you'd understand," she informed him. "Did you call Daniel and Teal'c?"

"Yep," he looked down at the puppy who was sniffing his pants leg. "Did you ever figure out a name for her?"

She sighed, "I'm not sure... I've been thinking maybe Pandora, because she's so curious."

"Just as long as you don't name her Pavlov I don't care," he told her with a grin.

"Why would I name her Pavlov?" she questioned. Her dog was a female, after all.

Jack picked the small puppy up, "You named your cat after that guy who theorized about putting cats into a box with cyanide or whatnot, why not name your dog after that guy Pavlov?"

She looked at him incredulously, "What do you know about Ivan Pavlov?"

He shrugged, "I took Psychology in High School... everybody knows about him, Sam."

"Sure they do," she took the puppy from his arms, "I am not naming my _female_ puppy after a male scientist. Schrodinger was a male cat, and the actual Schrodinger's theory was something that I studied at the Academy, granted I did take psychology, but Pavlov's experiment didn't interest me in the slightest, however I found Schrodinger's fascinating." With a look she set the pup back onto the floor, "I think I'll stick with Pandora..."

"Fine with me... but you do realize that when Daniel learns her name we'll get a lecture on Pandora and the mythology behind her, right?"

"Sure- but I don't mind." there was a small crash from the other side off the room and Sam looked over to see her puppy sitting beside of a stack of books that had obviously fallen off of the bookshelf. "Pandora..." she scolded, "bad girl."

"When you said she was curious you weren't kidding," Jack supplied with a grin.

"No," she replied with a sigh. "I wasn't."

**XXXX**

Daniel and Teal'c arrived not long after that, both surprised when Pandora ran to greet them with a bark and a wag of her tail at the door. Once again, there was something new for her to investigate! She sniffed them both and decided that Daniel was much like Sam and Jack, but Teal'c was something to spend more time studying. Barking happily a few times she stood on her back legs, placing her front legs on one of his own, then barked again, her tail going a mile a minute.

"She wants you to pick her up, T." Jack informed him with a smile. He had to admit, Pandora was really cute. It had been awhile since he had a dog.

"Who's dog is that?" Daniel asked, walking over to where Jack was sitting on the couch, Sam right behind him.

"She's mine," she explained. "Jack's neighbor's husky had puppies and she was selling them."

"What's her name?"

Jack groaned and Daniel sent him a strange look, but ignored him for the most part and gave his attention to Sam. It was her dog anyway.

"Her name is Pandora," Sam told him, shoving Jack gently. "As you can see she's very curious," they looked over to Teal'c, who was now holding the dog with both hands, quite awkwardly. Pandora didn't seem to care and tried with all her might to get close enough to his face to lick him, but Teal'c kept her far enough away to where that was impossible. Her tail wagged back and forth and she barked, she wanted closer!

"I no longer wish to hold this animal," he informed them, setting her down on the floor. Pandora didn't seem to mind and ran towards the couch where Sam was sitting with Jack, barking happily. Sam smiled and picked her up, the dog immediately went over to a pillow and began to sniff it. She must have decided that she did not like the object and it was a threat because a low growl came from her throat, although it was not all that menacing, she was still a puppy after all. After awhile she began barking again.

"Good job Pandora," Jack said sarcastically. "Show that inanimate object who's the boss around here."

Sam sent him a dirty look, "You be nice to her, she's only a puppy. She doesn't know any better."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "You're not going to be saying that when you come home and find that she chewed on your favorite pair of shoes are used the kitchen floor as a bathroom."

"I can have her trained," Sam said pointedly. "Then we won't have that problem."

"Who will take care of the animal when we are on a mission?" Teal'c asked as he sat down in the armchair.

"They've got kennels up in NORAD's level, I can just drop her off there when I come in for work."

They talked about Pandora for a while until the pizza came, then they all sat around in the living room and Sam put a movie in.

"What movie did you pick?" Daniel asked taking a bite of his pepperoni-pizza.

"John Q, I haven't seen it in awhile."

"I never have," Jack informed Daniel. "She thought that was outlandish."

"Indeed, I too have never seen this movie, Colonel Carter." Teal'c added. "What is the storyline?"

"Watch it and you'll find out," she told him. "It's good, you'll like it."

Teal'c bowed his head slightly and turned his attention to the movie.

**XXXX**

_Three months later_:

"Pandora!" Sam called as she opened the front door, the now larger puppy came bounding across the living room to greet her mother with a bark. Sam kneeled down and pet her affectionately. "Hey sweetheart, did you miss me?"

Pandora licked her cheek, she certainly did! Not that she didn't love spending time with Jack, but Sam paid her more attention.

"Where's Jack?" she asked, wiping the slobber off of her cheek. Pandora woofed and headed for the kitchen, so Sam followed her, setting her keys down on the coffee table as she passed it. "Jack?" she called out, entering the kitchen behind the dog. He was looking through the fridge when she came through, Pandora went over close by him and barked loudly, she had found him. The loud noise startled him and he banged his head against the top of the fridge before pulling it out, rubbing it.

"Stupid dog," he grumbled half-serious.

"Be nice to her, Jack. She's still only a puppy," Sam held back a grin, she had been using that line since she had gotten Pandora for one reason, Jack hated it.

"Yeah, yeah," he groaned. "I know..." he closed the fridge and walked over to her, greeting her with a deep kiss. "When did you get back?"

She melted into his embrace, "A couple of hours ago... where we you?"

"I was here," he explained. "It's Sunday and you were only with dad so I figured it would be ok for me to go home early, I was about to make something for dinner."

"Oh," she said, "In that case, don't let me stop you." She kissed him briefly, pulled out of his embrace, and called out to Pandora. "You wanna go for a walk, girl?"

Pandora barked in response, she knew what walk meant- she loved walks.

"Let's got get your leash then," she told her as she left the room, Pandora following close behind. After she got Pandora's leash on they left the house and began walking down the driveway. Sam stopped in her tracks when she noticed the dark SUV sitting across the street from her and Jack's house. She couldn't see if there was anybody inside it, but she had the sinking suspicion that somebody was. God, what now? It had been months since he had showed up.

Hoping... praying that it wasn't him she continued down the street, past the SUV, pretending as if the large car wasn't even there. When the door opened she acted as if she hadn't heard it, but Pandora was named Pandora for a reason. Whenever there was somebody new around her interest were perked, Sam scolded her as she stopped in the road and tried to go off in the direction of the stranger. Damn it, she should have gotten a guard dog instead of a family dog.

"Pandora, stop it." she called out, pulling back on her leash. She still hadn't looked up at the source of her interest, as long as she didn't there was still the possibility that it wasn't him. When Pandora lunged forward with all her strength, catching Sam off-guard, she was forced to look up in order to hold her balance. There went her hopes that it wasn't him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bitterly, pulling back on Pandora's leash once more, but harder. The dog finally got the picture and sat down, looking up at her master with curiosity. Sam normally let her investigate new people, what was so different about this one? He smelled all right to her, but then again she couldn't get as close as she would have liked. A questioning bark escaped her throat, she was confused.

"Pandora, stay."

Darn. That stupid word. Pandora huffed, but made no more movements.

"I tried calling your home phone, the line was disconnected. When I tried your cell nobody answered."

"Well, that's because I moved and as for the cell phone, I was out of town." She looked over at her house, "Again... what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," he explained. "I'm sorry. Come back to me."

She shook her head, "No Pete. I'm with Jack now... you knew that."

He snorted at the mention of O'Neill. "Yeah, I know."

"Don't even start that, Pete. We've already talked about this. I'm sorry that I wasted your time, but I never really loved you in the first place. I was just using you to take my mind off of Jack, who at the time I couldn't have feelings for. And, what you said that day at the SGC was true. If we had gotten married then every time there was an emergency I would run off to the SGC. Not because it's my job, because most of the time other people can handle it, but because it's my _life_. He's my life- he was even then. I'd do anything he asked, even if meant leaving you on the spur of the moment." She pulled on Pandora's leash, telling the dog they would be walking again soon. "If you can't get that through your head then you have a problem Pete. I want to be with him, not you." She turned and they began to walk again.

"You were cheating on me, then?" he called out to her angrily.

Another tug on Pandora's leash told her to stop walking. She was getting a bit perturbed, Sam had said they were going on a walk and this wasn't walking!

Sam turned around, "No, Pete. I wasn't cheating on you with him. The truth is, I was cheating on _him_ with _you_. I knew from the start of our relationship that I loved him, but I went out with you anyway. I couldn't be with him, but I wanted somebody... anybody. I thought that you would help, take my mind off of my feelings for him. I was wrong, it only made things worse. And I am truly sorry for that."

He nodded solemnly, "I had to try."

She returned the gesture, "I know."

**XXXX**

**A/N: I'm just going to stop saying when the last chapter is, because I'm never right! Anyway, let me know what you think about this one. I don't know when this story will be over exactly, but it's going to be soon.**


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**A/N: Jack isn't mean to Pandora... per se. He was just a little annoyed, and his head hurt! I'll establish that he likes her in this chapter.**

**A/N: Small spoilers for Emancipation and The Broca Divide towards the end.**

**XXXX**

_Six weeks later:_

As Sam's eyes lazily fluttered open she was vaguely aware of the fact that the room was still pitch black, but she didn't pay it much mind. Blinking the sleep away she turned over in the bed, feeling Jack's arm tighten around her waist instinctively. Smiling as he pulled her closer in his sleep her eyes drifted to the reason she had waken. The smile on her face grew.

"Come on, 'Dora," she whispered. The now 6 month old pup's tail wagged and she leaped onto the bed with ease, causing the mattress to wiggle, but not enough so that it stirred Jack. Sam scooted closer to him, allowing more space for the dog, and then settled back into sleep. Pandora, seeing an open space, cuddled up next to her and rested her head on Sam's arm, which would most likely go numb sometime during the night, but at that point Sam was too tired to care. She drifted back to sleep instantly, Jack's soft, easy breaths and Pandora's light snoring helping to further her into dream land.

**XXXX**

The next time she woke up it was bright outside, a bit too bright at first, causing her to wince and snap her eyes shut. But as soon as she was confident her eyes were up to adjusting to the change of lighting she slowly opened them again, coming face to face with Pandora, who was already awake and looking at her expectantly. Sam smiled, reached out for the dog, and lovingly ran a hand through her thick white and silver coat. "Good morning, 'Dora."

Pandora barked happily in response and Sam momentarily wondered if Jack was awake or not. He was still lying behind her, she knew that much, but sometimes he laid in bed until she woke up- even though he would never admit such to her. After gently pushing Pandora to the edge of the bed so she would jump off Sam turned to face him. Sure enough he was awake and staring down at her, as if he had been waiting for her to turn and look.

"What time is it?" she asked sheepishly, trying not to blush at the look he was giving her.

"Who cares?" he asked, pulling her closer to him. "It's Saturday."

She went willingly and nestled up against him, hiding her face in his chest. "Daniel and Teal'c are coming over... so is Cassie."

He groaned, suddenly remembering the bar-b-q that had been planned nearly two weeks prior. "We can cancel," he offered hopefully.

After entertaining the idea for a moment she pushed it aside, as much as she would like to stay in bed with him all day she hadn't seen Cassie in awhile. "We can't," she told him grudgingly. "They'll be over at 1300 hours."

"It's still early," he suggested. She pulled back from his chest and grinned.

"We have to cook, Jack..." the offer was tempting, but they couldn't. Otherwise nothing would get done.

He pouted for a minute, then decided that if he couldn't convince her with his words he would damn well try with his actions. Before she knew it she was completely in his arms and he was kissing her feverishly. Her mind turned to mush and she could think of nothing but returning the kiss for the better part of a minute before she managed to regain her senses and pulled back. "Jack..." she warned, "stop that."

The look in his eyes told her that she wasn't going to get off that easily and he leaned forward to capture her lips with his again. But before he had the chance she dunked out of the way, escaping the kiss only for a moment and did the first thing that came to mind.

"Pandora!" she called out loudly. The groan that followed told her that he knew what she was up to. She knew better to think that her strategy would work completely. "Come here girl!"

Before she knew it the puppy was on the bed again, attacking them both with sings of her affection, and drenching them with the best of intentions. Sam squealed, taking the brunt of the licks, and pulled away from the dog. Pandora wasn't going to have that, though, and followed Sam, setting her front paws on Jack's chest to get to her master. With a happy bark Pandora once again began to shower Sam with love, while Jack chuckled and slid out from under the covers. Oh yeah, her plan had backfired.

"'Dora," he called, "come on, girl... let's go outside."

_Outside!_ That was exactly where she needed to go... and bad! Pandora stopped her assault on Sam, who by that time was going to need a good, long shower and jumped off the bed after her other master, tail wagging at full-speed. She loved Sam but she had to go!

By the time Jack returned she was off of the bed, wiping her face off with the bottom of her t-shirt, having not thought about the fact that doing so left her stomach uncovered. Only did this occur to her when Jack once again had her pinned down on the bed, smothering her with kisses in a way totally different than Pandora had. Also, it occurred to her that his motives for letting the pup outside were not so pure-hearted. He didn't care if the dog needed out, with her gone there were no distractions.

"Jack!" she objected between kisses, "I'm covered in dog slobber!"

He pulled back, a grin that sent shivers through her veins manifested on his face, "I needed a shower, anyway."

Ok, so maybe it was still a bit early... Cooking could wait.

**XXXX**

_3 hours later:_

Sam sat down on the patio chair and sighed. It was a beautiful day out, already after 1200 and in the mid 70's. Spring was her favorite season of all, no longer cold but yet the humidity was not at the same intensity of summer. Pandora came running up to her and nearly jumped in the chair she was sitting in, Sam was sure that if it had been larger the dog would be in her lap. She rubbed her ears affectionately and admired how beautiful her dog had become in the four and a half months she had owned her.

The sliding glass door opened and Jack stepped onto the deck, steaks in hand. Daniel would be arriving soon with Teal'c and Cassie so it was time for him to start to grill. Pandora's attention turned from her favorite person of all to her second favorite person of all... who had food and could possibly take Sam's place if he let her have some.

She trotted over to him, sat back on her hind legs, and got into begging position. Jack did his best not to look over at the dog, if he did she would get some of the food, no doubt. He couldn't resist when she was begging. A whine caught both his and Sam's attention, causing Sam to smile and Jack to groan.

But if there was anybody who could fix the situation it was Sam. "Come on Pandora," she said with a grin, "let's go get you a treat."

_Treat!_ There was another word she knew... and loved! Pandora eagerly followed Sam back into the house, giving Jack the opportunity to throw the stakes on the grill quickly. When Sam returned outside the dog wasn't the only one with her, Daniel, Teal'c, and Cassie followed her out onto the deck.

"Hey guys," he greeted, "I'm just putting the steaks on. Any preferences?"

"Well-done for me," Cassie informed him.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "Me, too."

Teal'c bowed, sitting down on the outside swing, "I too wish for my steak to be fully cooked."

"Alright... I guess that's 4 well-done and one medium-rare." Medium-rare for himself, well-done for Sam.

"Jack," Cassie lectured, "you do know _what_ can live in un-cooked meat, don't you?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "But they've got people who check for things like that."

She shrugged, "Hey... if you want a tapeworm go ahead. Whatever floats your boat fries your chicken, I guess."

He scowled, must she always bring that stupid worm thing up? "I guess that makes it five well-done steaks." he grumbled to himself. Cassie grinned in triumph and went off to play with Pandora.

"You know," he said to Sam when Cassie was out of ear-shot. "She's too much like her mother for her own good."

"I think it's for your own good, Jack," Sam teased, smacking his rear. He jumped slightly and looked at her with a wink.

Daniel coughed, "I'm going to get a beer... does anybody want anything?"

Jack raised his eyebrow at Sam suggestively, causing her to giggle. "That's not exactly what he meant," she informed him.

He shrugged and went back to cooking.

"I'll take a beer, Daniel," Sam told him. "Want anything Teal'c?"

"I do not," he replied.

Daniel nodded and headed back for the house. "Get me a beer, too!" Jack called out before kissing Sam briefly then getting back to cooking.

**XXXX**

_Later that night:_

Jack laughed, twisting off the cap to his beer, "Hey... you guys remember when we were just starting out... that time on P3X-595 when Sam drank that stuff tha–"

"We won't get into that," Sam interjected.

"Oh, come on," he exclaimed with a grin. "It's not like they weren't there, anyway."

She scowled at him. "Kind of like when you ate that fruit thing on P2Q-351 that made you extremely libi–"

"Hey, hey," he cut her off. "Danny and T don't know about that."

A sigh escaped her lips, "We should go back to that planet, those fruit things would come in handy..."

Cassie fell into a fit of coughs, holding her hand over her chest and laughing hysterically. "Ok... that was way more than I needed to hear."

Sam only grinned.

"I am in agreement with Cassandra Fraiser," Teal'c informed them. "I wish for the subject to be changed."

"Oh... come on, T." Jack said with a smile, "There's always that mission to P9D-332, after you lost your snake, when you–"

"That is immaterial to this conversation," Teal'c said quickly. "Much like the occasion on P6Q-084 when DanielJackson was forced to lock himself in a Erritean house in order to hide from the female inhabitants who wished to propagate with him."

Daniel turned a deep shade of red, he knew better than to cut Teal'c off mid-sentence.

Sam grinned, "And that woman begged Jack to open the door for her... which, he did."

"That was you!" Daniel exclaimed. "Jack! That woman jumped me!"

O'Neill only grinned.

**XXXX**

It was nearing 2300 hours before everybody finally left. Daniel was still a bit sore about the incident on 084, but Jack knew most of it was just for show. Danny couldn't stay mad at him for long, he couldn't stay mad at anybody for long- with the exception of various alien cultures they had run across over the years.

Nonetheless, he was exhausted. They had spent the whole day outside talking, and laughing... and accusing, and laughing some more. It had been a while since they had gotten together like that, he made a mental note to do it more often.

He flipped on the TV and watched as the dull light filled the room, casting shadows in every corner, and calling attention to a certain curious animal who had been, up until that point, sleeping in her bed. Her arrival was foretold by the clanging of her tags and he glanced over the back of the sofa, watching her as she trotted over to him. "Hey, girl," he greeted as she jumped up onto the couch and pressed herself up against his leg. She barked happily and rested her head on his outer thigh.

Running his fingers through her thick coat he thought about when they had first got her. She was so much bigger now, after only a few months, and her hair had grown thicker and longer. Pandora looked up at him with blue eyes that shimmered like the Stargate and let out a sound that reminded him of a cat's purr. He scratched her ears with a smile, "It's past your bedtime, young lady."

She barked at him. Bedtime... what bedtime? Her bright, blue eyes pleaded with him to stay up and he smiled at how humanlike she could be at times. "Well... maybe in half an hour."

Another bark. She liked that idea!

For twenty minutes or so they sat there, Jack watching TV and Pandora gently easing into sleep. When she began to snore lightly he carefully maneuvered his way off of the couch, hoping not to wake the dog in the process. No suck luck, however, she looked up at him sleepily and began to wag her tail.

"Go back to sleep, 'Dora." he told her, walking around to the other side of the couch. Her tail stopped wagging and she grudgingly laid her head back down on the couch, she was tired...

Jack quietly made his way down the hallway and into his and Sam's room. She had gone off to shower shortly after everybody had gone home and by then she should have been ready for bed. When he entered the room he sighed, the conjoining bathroom door was still closed, and a faint light was seeping through the crack at the bottom. "Sam?" he questioned, taking off his jeans and slipping into bed, searching around for the channel changer. "Are you still not ready?"

He got no reply, at that moment. A minute or so later, however, the door to the bathroom opened and she stepped into the bedroom, turning off the light to the bathroom. "Hey... do you remember the mission to P3X-797?"

A grin stretched across his face, "How could I forget it? You threw yourself at me for the first time after we got back from that planet."

"Well... I was actually wondering about when we were headed back home for the second time. You know, when you asked me about my wound?"

"Oh," he replied. "I remember..."

Up until that point she had been wearing her robe, but that changed fairly quickly. His eyes nearly popped out of his head and it was her turn to grin. "So..." she slid into bed with him and quickly found herself in his arms.

"You kept it, huh?" he asked, pulling her closer to him.

"Oh, yeah," she replied, capturing his lips with her own. "I kept it."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Alright, so let me know what you think. It's a bit more racy than most... but since I'm still a bit on the young side and my story is still PG-13 that's as risque as it is gonna get. And, this might have been out earlier, except for the fact that I took last night off to watch the Superbowl. :( I was cheering for the Egales (I always cheer for the underdog)... they played a good game- too bad they didn't win. My sister gloated.  
**


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't belong to me.**

**XXXX**

Jack O'Neill stood patiently in the control room awaiting the return of his flagship team, SG-1. They had gone to P3Q-308 a little over four days prior in order for Dr. Daniel Jackson to study some ancient ruins that SG-5 had found almost a week prior to their departure. In all truths, he was surprised the archeologist had waited so long to request a mission to 308- but figured it had something to do with the rubbings he had been translating from a previous mission, almost a month before. Nonetheless, SG-1 wasn't scheduled for anything else and the world wasn't in certain doom (for the time being) so he saw no reason to deny the request. Sam and Teal'c had gone a bit grudgingly, since it hadn't been long since their last archeological mission, but he knew that they didn't mind as much as they let on- or at least as much as Sam did. Teal'c just stood as stoic as ever and excepted his fate. Besides, it wasn't every day they got to go somewhere without being shot at, so that was a major plus.

They were scheduled to return at 0900 hours, and it was only five minutes until then, so he stood behind Davis and waited for the 'gate to be activated. He didn'd have to wait long, two minutes before their due time the Stargate came to life and their IDC came through. The iris was opened and he left the control room to meet them in the embarkation room.

Teal'c was the first one through, carrying a far larger bag than he had left with, followed by Sam who's bag had not changed drastically, and Daniel who could hardly be seen behind his. "Hi, guys," he greeted with a knowing grin, "have fun?"

Sam scowled at him for good measure and took off out the 'gate room. P3Q-308 was a sand planet, she despised those as much as he despised trees, and he couldn't blame her for it. So, undoubtably she was headed for the locker rooms to steal all the hot water before anybody else got the chance, since it was still a bit early. Jack turned his attention to Daniel, who had set his bag down by then. "Find anything interesting?" D'oh- that was the wrong question.

"Actually, it was fascinating. The language on the ruins seems to be derived from a mixture of Aztec and Mayan, which is odd because both cultures thrived at completely different ti–"

Jack blinked a few times, cursing himself for opening his big mouth, and turned to Teal'c. "Got anything for me in there, Santa?"

"Indeed," he said, ignoring Jack's humor. "I do not."

Damn. Why did he have to say 'indeed' in front of everything. Gives a guys hopes up.

By that time Daniel had noticed that Jack was no longer paying attention to him, "If you didn't want to know, then why did you ask?" he questioned.

"I worded it wrong. What I meant to say was did you find anything important."

"What I found _is_ important, Jack." Daniel countered.

"Means to aide our fight in the Goa'uld?" he questioned.

"No."

"Big, honkin' space gun?"

"No."

"Small, honkin' space gun?"

Daniel sighed, "No."

"Just a regular old space gun?"

"No," Daniel replied, getting a bit aggravated.

"Then it's not_ that_ important, now is it?" he mused.

"Maybe not to you, bu–"

Jack cut him off mid sentence, "Report to the infirmary and get checked out, debriefing at 1000 hours."

Daniel muttered something under his breath before picking the large bag up and heading out the door, Teal'c not far behind.

**XXXX**

As he pretended to pay attention to Daniel prattle on about the significance of a Mayan/Aztec culture fused together as one he stealthily focused on one Colonel Samantha Carter. In the few days she had been off-world he had done a lot of thinking, which was atypical of him, unless the thoughts consisted of attack plans and big honkin' space guns. Nonetheless, he had pondered over many things, the most important involving her.

"Jack?" Daniel called out, sounding more than a bit perturbed. Oops... he was caught.

"Yeah, Daniel?" he answered, trying to act as if he hadn't been ignoring his speech.

"I asked what you thought about it," the archeologist stated cryptically. Crap, not good.

"Carter," he addressed the very thing that had stolen his thoughts moments before. "What's your opinion."

She glared at him, not amused by the fact he was using her as his scape-goat, and looked over at Daniel. "This would be with whom, exactly?"

Daniel shrugged, "Any SG team available."

"Ah," she sighed, "in that case, it sounds perfectly reasonable to me. But, it is, of course, General O'Neill's decision."

Jack scowled. Her answer had been almost as cryptic as Daniel's, but he had enough to go on, and Daniel was extremely predictable. With a slight grin he answered the man's initial question. "If you want to go back, Danny, that's fine with me... I think SG-3 is free tomorrow- that is, assuming you want to leave right away."

Daniel held back a scowl. SG-3, huh? They hated archeological missions as much as he had. "What about SG-4, sir." Major Dennis was an archeology buff, after all. To have her along would make things ten times easier on him. "Are they off-world?"

Jack shook his head, "Just got back yesterday... I can present the mission to Major Dennis, but if she decides not to go it's SG-3."

He wasn't going to argue. He knew Amy would jump at the opportunity, no matter that her subordinates could care less about ancient civilizations. "Sounds good to me," he said with a shrug.

"Good," that made his life easier, anyway. "Dismissed, then."

The three began to file out of the room, but before Sam could leave he called out to her. "Colonel," not exactly necessary when they were alone, but a habitual act all the same. "Do you have anything important planned for tonight?"

She shook her head, "Not that I know of, sir."

"Good," he repeated. "Dinner at 1900?"

"I'll meet you on the surface at 1800 hours," she promised with a grin. "Dress up?"

He nodded, "Better make it 1730."

"Alright... I'll see you for lunch at 1300?"

"Yep," knowing her she would be stuck in her office until he came by to get her at 1315. "Go experiment on your doohickeys."

A grin stretched across her face. God, he loved it when she smiled. "I'll see you later, sir." With that she took off out the room and towards the elevators, leaving him to get ready for his briefing with SG-8 at 1130.

**XXXX**

They met, as planned, at 1730. Since she had been on a mission her car was at their house, therefore she rode home with him. They dressed quickly, Sam wearing a black, strapless dress and heels that made her three inches taller, although she didn't need them. He wore a pair of khaki pants with a blue button up shirt, foregoing the tie that Sam had wanted him to wear. She didn't really want him to, anyway, she just wanted to tease him.

After giving Pandora an overdue hello and goodbye they left the house, headed for her favorite Italian restaurant, Lomeli's. Since he had called ahead for reserved seating they didn't have to wait in the medium sized line. They were seated by a window that looked out over the mountains, one of Sam's favorite things about the restaurant, and left to search through the menu.

"How did Pandora do while I was away?" Sam asked, not wanting to let on that she was worried about her puppy. Pandora was only a little over 8 months old and was still in the chewing stage, whatever she could get a hold of was spared no mercy.

"She was fine, Sam," Jack assured her. "Don't worry so much."

She sighed and set her menu down, she already knew what she would get, anyway. "I try... but, you know how 'Dora gets."

"Do I ever," he said with a grin. "She was a little lonely with you gone, but I brought her to the park and she got over it."

Sam grinned, Pandora loved the park. Like others of her breed she was a friendly dog and always eager to see a new face, more so if it was a child. What was good about her was that since she was still so young she hadn't grown fully, she was only at 25 pounds and had ten or more to go, and her bright, blue eyes had a way of letting others know just how much she loved people. New people were always better, she was a curious animal, after all. "How'd that go?"

"She made a couple friends, like always." He didn't appear too enthusiastic but Sam knew that Jack loved Pandora just as much as she did... well, maybe almost as much.

The waitress returned, took their orders, Sam getting chicken fettuccine and Jack getting shrimp fettuccine, then went off to give them to the cook.

"I was surprised you agreed to Daniel going back so soon," Sam pointed out, taking a sip of the wine Jack had ordered for them. "Normally you put up a bit of a fuss."

He shrugged, "I figured I'd let him have some fun... there's nothing around base that requires his knowledge. Besides... I think Major Dennis has a bit of a crush on him."

"Really? Major Dennis... what makes you say so?"

"I happen to know, for a fact, that Dennis cannot stand archeology." he grinned at her. "Haven't you ever wondered why whenever SG-1 doesn't go with Danny to those ruins her team is the immediate back-up?"

She shook her head, "I was always under the impression that she was interested in the study."

Jack shook his head, "Nope. You know, she came on board while Daniel was... away, and she had the opportunity to go on an archeological dig back then, she declined. Told me that there was no use studying it, the civilizations were already dead. _Who cares, they're all dead and gone, anyway, _were her exact words, I recall."

Shaking her head with silent laughter she thought about the possibility of Daniel dating again. "You're trying to play match maker?"

"Oh, yeah..." he said sarcastically. "I just want to see what's gonna happen."

"They've been on missions together before, you know," she pointed out.

"True... but when Captain Craig and Lieutenant Peters are called back to the SGC..."

"Your plan is flawed," Sam informed him. "Daniel will want to return with them. So will Dennis."

"No need, Craig and Peters, along with all other male members of air force working at the SGC, are having a mandatory physical. The women will be next Monday, and the non-military members next Tuesday... they'll be back by then."

Sam grinned, "I don't know... your plans have a tendency to blow up in your face."

"Not all of them," he said defensively.

"Yeah," she countered, "all of them."

He sighed, "That's no good for you, then."

"What does that mean?" she asked, her interest piqued.

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "It wouldn't work in the first place."

She pondered his statement for a moment, then decided that maybe not _all_ of his plans turned out in disaster. "Ok, so most of your plans have a tendency to blow up in your face..."

He eyed her suspiciously, "Are you only saying that because you want to know what the plan is?"

"No," she lied, doing her best to hide a grin.

Sending her an incredulous look he picked up his menu, "Sure..."

Damn. Didn't work.

"Jack," she asked, her newly bare foot traveling under the table and connecting with his leg, "what's the plan?"

He looked up, his eyes gleaming, "Never gonna work."

Her foot traveled further up his leg, "You sure?"

Not phased he nodded, "Positive."

Further still, "What's the plan, Jack?"

He shrugged, "Maybe later."

Damn. Didn't work. Her foot retreated and he smiled in defeat.

"You can wait a couple hours, right?"

If she must. "Maybe..."

"I don't think you have much of a choice, Sam."

Well, that _was_ true. Unless she came up with a brilliant idea then she'd have to wait. Of course, she was a genius, or so he said.

She took another sip of her wine, her eyes never leaving his. "Fine... I can wait."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Liked it, loved it, hated it, loathed it... let me know either way. But, try not to be too harsh- I have feelings, ya know. Anyway, I'm thinking two more chapters, that way it ends up being thirty even.**


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**John Doe**

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

**Disclaimer: Not mine yet, but I'm working on it... maybe when pigs fly.**

**A/N: Just in time for Valentines Day...**

**XXXX**

Sam ate as quickly as she possibly could, without letting on to the fact that she was trying to hurry along their dinner. It wasn't something she would readily admit, but she was really curious about what his plan was and the wait was killing her. He, however, didn't seem phased by her curiosity and ate dinner at his normal speed, if not then a little slower. It seemed to her that he knew about how anxious she was to know and was doing everything within his power to slow things down, just to get to her.

Eventually, though, they had to leave. Lomeli's was a popular restaurant, if not for it's food then for it's location, and there was no sense in making other couples wait any longer than they had to. Besides, he had other things in mind for the rest of the evening. So, a little after an hour after they arrived he paid the bill and they returned to his truck- without a word from him.

As he drove she looked around suspiciously, as if trying to figure out where they were headed. Which, it didn't actually take her long to come to a conclusion, but it wasn't because she was just that smart, but because she knew where the roads that he was taking lead. And, even though she probably wouldn't have admitted so, it confused her.

When they pulled in front of their destination she looked over at him with a mixture of incredulousness and disappointment. He just grinned at her and shut down the truck. Leaning over the center seat he kissed her reassuringly, "Come on, Sam... let's go."

"But, Jack," she replied, glancing at their location once more, "why here?"

"Don't worry about it," he grabbed his keys from the ignition, opened his door and stepped out on the street. She took her seatbelt off in time for him to open the door and help her onto the road, then lead her down the sidewalk, and around to the side of the house- their house. After gently shoving her up the ladder he followed, a wide spread grin on his face.

A sharp, surprised gasp filled in the air and his grin stretched further across his face, that was what he had been anticipating. He pushed her further, since she had stopped walking up the ladder, and continued to follow her the last few steps up it. When he reached the top she was standing in the middle of the deck, awestruck. He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin where her shoulder and neck connected. "Surprise."

She turned around in his arms and smiled, "What is all of this?"

He glanced around the deck, where there had been chairs the night before a picnic blanket laid lazily, dimly lit candles cluttered the area, and a bottle of wine was on ice. The telescope was pushed to the edge of the deck and pointed in a different direction than it normally was, which she had yet to notice in her shock. "This," he explained, looking around once more, "is my plan."

Sam smiled and kissed him deeply. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

Leading her over to the blanket he set her down, then joined her. "The night's not over yet."

"So, this is what your plan was?"

He nodded, "Was it worth the wait?"

A smile spread across her face, "You bet'cha."

He laughed, "I'm glad... Do you want some wine?"

"Yeah," she glanced around the deck once more. "How are the candles still burning?"

A grin manifested on his face as he poured her a glass of wine, "I was waiting for you to figure that out. Daniel came by, oh about ten minutes ago and lit them for me."

"Really?" she questioned. "He knew about this?"

Jack nodded, "He had originally wanted to return from 308 last night... but I talked him into staying a day longer. Of course, you know Danny, so he bugged me forever about it until I told him."

"Oh?" she asked, "And what did you tell him?"

He shrugged, "That I wanted to surprise you."

"Not that this isn't a wonderful surprise," she said, taking a sip of her wine. "But... what's the occasion."

He shrugged, "No occasion. I just wanted to do something special for you."

She grinned and leaned over, kissing his gently. "Well... it's wonderful. Thank you."

He laughed in response, "You said that already."

She smiled sheepishly, "That's because I meant it."

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, kissing the nape of her neck. "I love you."

She brought her arms around his and leaned back into his embrace, sighing in content. "I love you, too."

"I don't deserve you," he said nonchalant. "You're too good for me, you know."

She turned to look at him, "Jack- you are the strongest, bravest, and although you don't normally show it one of the smartest men that I have ever known. You have a way of making me laugh, even when I don't want to, would do anything for one of your team, and have on more than one occasion. You don't give yourself enough credit, I'm no better than you are."

He gave her a small smile and kissed her gently. "You see... anybody else would have just agreed with me. But, not you. You're such a good person that you can't even admit that your better than others to yourself."

"I never said that," she told him with a smile. "I'd like to think I'm a better person than Kinsey or Agent Woosley..."

Jack grinned, "Babe, Maybourne is a better person than Kinsey and Woosley and he was found guilty of treason."

Sam couldn't help herself and a bubble of laughter escaped her throat. "You see..." she told him, "here we are having a serious conversation and you make me laugh."

"That's just because I love it when you laugh," he replied, kissing her gently.

She sighed and turned back around in his arms, and he tightened his embrace as she looked up at the stars. "It's a beautiful night..."

He mumbled a response, and kissed the nape of her neck again. "I know that you've said before we haven't gone to many of those stars up there... but how many have we actually been to?"

A shrug of her shoulders was her reply. "Maybe ten... fifteen- and those you probably couldn't see from here. I could find one with the telescope, probably."

"Maybe later," he told her, resting his chin on her shoulder with a sigh.

Sam had no objections- she could stay in his arms like that all night, if that's what he wanted.

**XXXX**

"Jack," she asked, after nearly fifteen minutes of silence. "You said there was more to the surprise..."

"I did," he replied with a nod.

"Well..." she turned in his arms, "what else is there?"

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, "Let me up and I'll show you."

So she did just that, leaning forward and allowing him to stand, then pull her to her feet. He lead her to the telescope, looked through it for a second, then pressed a few buttons on the side of it. Since he had bought a new one that could be programmed to a certain point the telescope shifted and turned to the right. He looked through it again and then when he was content he had found what he was looking for pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the envelope from him.

"Open it," he replied with a grin.

She threw him an incredulous as she opened the white envelope, then pulled out the certificate that was inside it. Her jaw dropped as she read it, _Be it known that the star herein designated in the scientifically renowned SOA star catalog as 072233 Pegasus as residing within the boundaries of the constellation Pegasus "The Winged Horse" is hereby named in honor as **SAMANTHA ELIZABETH O'NEILL**. The astronomically verified position is Right Ascension 22h 19m 40.53s, Declination +31" 06' 55.5", Type AO, Magnitude 9.2, Distance unknown. _

It wasn't until after she had read the entire thing twice that she noticed the name on the certificate. Samantha Elizabeth O'Neill. Not Carter. All the oxygen in her body fled and she struggled for her composure. "Jack..." she all but whispered, still looking down at the paper. "It says Samantha O'Neill."

"Oh, that," he replied, she could hear the smile in her voice. But, for some reason she couldn't pull her eyes off of those large, bold letters forming her name. "Just wishful thinking."

She looked up to ask him what that meant when she felt the familiar sensation of all the air in her body escaping, he was down on one knee, a ring box in his right hand, grinning.

"Jack...?"

The grin on his face spread further, "Samantha Elizabeth Carter- would you make me the luckiest man in the universe, and be my wife?"

Her head flew to her mouth and she struggled for air. She glanced down at the certificate, then at the ring in his hand, then finally at him. A hopeful, but confident, look was dancing in his deep, brown eyes and the smile that she had fallen in love with the first time she saw it stretched across his face. Feeling tears gathering behind her eyes she nodded, not yet trusting her voice, and pulled him up to her, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Of course I will," she said finally, pulling and kissing him gently. "I love you so much."

He smiled and took the ring out of the box, then slipped it on her ring finger. She looked down at it with a bright smile. It was traditional gold, three square-cut diamonds in a row, the center one larger than the other two. "It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Cassie helped me pick it out," he told her with a smile. "She said you mentioned once that you liked the square cut stones best..."

"She was right," Sam told him. "But... this is perfect."

He pulled her back into his arms and whispered how much he loved her in her ear, sending chills down her spine, then kissed her deeply. They moved back to the blanket and sat down, where he kissed her again. After a few minutes a happy barking stole their attention and Sam reluctantly moved from her spot and peered over the edge of the deck, just in time to see three dark forms shooing Pandora away. She would have been alarmed if it wasn't for the distinct bulky form that she easily recognized as Teal'c. However, they had yet to notice that she had noticed them.

"Jack," she whispered, "come here."

He sighed and followed her to the edge of the deck, then looked out to the backyard and noticed the three culprits. Pandora ran happily around then, barking loudly, wanting to play. A smaller, less bulky form that she figured was Daniel pushed her away gently. "Shh!" he scolded, throwing a stick for her to chase and looking back up at the deck with a pair of bincoulars. Then he realized they were caught. "Shit," she heard him whisper.

"What?" a female voice asked, not having the binoculars with which to see.

"They see us," he whispered back.

"Oh," she replied, then stood up. "Hi!"

"Cassie!" Daniel scolded under his breath, although Jack and Sam could both hear him.

"What?" she asked, "you said they see us. Why hide?"

Teal'c stepped out from behind the trees and nodded, "Greetings O'Neill and Colonel Carter."

"Hi, Teal'c." Sam called, "Hold on a second, we're on our way down."

They walked to the ladder where they stole a quick kiss before going down it. When they reached the bottom their three friends were waiting for them with large smiles– with the exception of Teal'c whom had an amused expression on his face.

"So?" Cassie asked with a smile.

"So... what?" Jack asked a scowl, a bit perturbed that they had interrupted his plan.

"Did you ask her?" Daniel asked.

"What do you think?" he questioned. "You _were _watching us, anyway."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, about that... It was Teal'c's idea."

"Indeed, it was Cassandra Fraiser and DanielJackson who devised this plan, O'Neill."

Jack sighed, "Yeah... I know."

By then Cassie had grabbed Sam's hand and studied the ring. "It looks even more beautiful on your finger!" she exclaimed.

"So... congratulations are in order." Daniel speculated with a grin.

Jack nodded.

"Congratulations."

"Yeah, thanks." the scowl still hadn't left his face. This was an invasion of privacy, anyway. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Jack," Sam called out with a laugh. "Don't look so mad..."

The scowl disappeared from his face, "Fine. Would you like to come in," he suggested.

Daniel knew better than to except that offer. "Nah... we'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Suit yourself," Jack said, not about to argue with his decision. "Bye."

Cassie hugged Sam once more, then Daniel did, and Teal'c nodded with a slight smile. Then the three of them piled into Daniel's CR-V and they drove off.

"What did I say about all of your plans not working out?" Sam asked with an amused grin.

"You don't think my plan worked?" he asked, pulling her back into his arms.

She kissed him deeply, "I dunno... it's not over yet, is it?"

He grinned and pulled her inside the house with him, "Not hardly."

**XXXX**

**A/N: So... that was the plan. Let me know what'cha think. **

**Happy Valentines Day.**

**Oh, the star's location came from a website's "example" of what the certificate to buy a star looks like. I always thought that it was really sweet, so... Anyway... I'm not sure how much longer it's got. Maybe just one more chapter, maybe two or three. That all depends on my muse (and your reviews- maybe)  
**


	30. Chapter Thirty

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah... we've gone through this many times before- the show and the characters are not my property. Although, I wouldn't mind if they were.**

**XXXX**

_The next morning:_

Sam was awakened by the sound of the doorbell ringing and a low, annoyed groan in her ear. Jack rolled over in the bed and grabbed the alarm clock, cursing softly before sliding out of bed and pulling on a pair of pants. She too turned to see the time, surprised to find that it was already after 1000 hours- but, neither of them had really slept much that night, nor early that morning. From what she could figure they had only been sleeping for seven hours or so, and while that wasn't all together a bad thing, on a Saturday (much less, the day after he proposed!) it was a travesty.

From her warm spot under the covers she heard him walk through the living room and open the front door, then the sound of him complaining about how early it was. Her small smile grew into a wide grin when she heard Daniel respond with the fact that it was after ten in the morning, they had slept long enough, and for him to stop being such a baby. If only he knew!

She entertained the idea of ignoring the fact that her friend was over and going back to sleep, but it was a short lived thought- because the next voice she heard would never let her sleep after what had happened the night before. Cassandra Fraiser was already questioning Jack as to where his new fiancee was hiding. With a tired groan she slipped out of bed, pulling on some clothes, and jumped into the bathroom quickly to brush her teeth, as well as her hair. By the time she emerged Cassie was ready and waiting in the bedroom for her, a infections smile on her face.

"Can I see it?" she begged, walking over to the woman who had been like her aunt since she could remember.

"You saw it last night," Sam informed her with slight amusement.

The twenty-one year old shrugged, "Exactly, last _night_- It's daytime now."

"You were there when he bought it!" she exclaimed with a smile to match her younger friend's.

A guilty expression passed over her face, "So?"

Sam laughed and offered her hand to Cassie, who took it readily and squealed in happiness, "It took him enough time to ask."

Didn't she know it! Of course, she would have waited years with that kind of proposal. Smiling to herself she drew back her hand and led Cassie into the living room, to find Daniel and whoever else he had brought with him- she was expecting at least Teal'c, but she wouldn't have been surprised if the whole house was filled. Thankfully, though, when she made it into the living room Teal'c was the only one standing in it.

"Where's Jack and Daniel?" she questioned, glancing around.

"They are in the kitchen," Teal'c replied monotone, "cutting the cake DanielJackson purchased."

Cake? Why on earth had Daniel bought a cake. Sure, it was a _very _special occasion, but one that warranted cake? Surely not... cake was reserved for events such as birthday's and well- mostly just birthdays. Weddings, too, but he had only proposed a few hours earlier, the wedding was the furthest thing from her mind. First she was going to enjoy engagement, she was in no hurry. Well... maybe just a little bit of a hurry.

By then Cassie had managed to pull her into the kitchen, where Jack was lost in cutting the chocolate iced cake in front of him, Daniel was standing off to the side, an amused expression on his face. He had, of course, only brought the cake over as a sort of inside joke; he had figured that they would have dinner, then eat the cake afterwards. Not once did the fact that Jack would want to eat the cake immediately cross his mind, though it should have been his first thought- knowing his friend.

"Sam!" the archeologist called out when he noticed her presence. "Good morning."

Jack snorted. It _had_ been a good morning, up until the point where he'd be woken up.

Sam too made a face at her friend. Maybe it was a good morning for him, he probably had gotten more sleep than she had. Which, she wasn't exactly complaining, since her reason for not sleeping had been a very _good _one...

"Isn't it a bit early for cake?" Sam asked, ignoring Daniel's earlier comment.

A look of horror passed over Jack's face, "Too early for cake? Never."

It was Daniel's turn to snort. Of course it was too early for cake, but there was no telling Jack that. Not even Teal'c could convince him that 10 am is not the ideal time to be eating cake.

Shaking her head with silent laughter she left the kitchen, Cassie following close behind, and went searching for Teal'c. He was still in the living room, only he had sat down by that time, and was watching TV. Sam sat down on the love seat adjacent to the couch, and Cassie sat next to Teal'c. The large Jaffa glanced over at Sam with what only a few people would recognize as a smile and began his own interrogation. "Did you sleep well, Colonel Carter?"

She scowled at the underlying question, "Yes, I did Teal'c... up until the point where the doorbell rang."

He nodded understandingly, "I am sorry, Colonel Carter. If we had taken DanielJackson's plan of action you would have been waken long ago. It was myself and Cassandra Fraiser who convinced him to wait until a later hour."

Nodding she continued, "Doesn't surprise me much."

"What of you and O'Neill's engagement?" he continued with his round of 21 questions. Sam was so amused by his newfound openness that she didn't even mind all of the questions, added to the fact that it was Teal'c asking them and not some busybody who had no right to such knowledge.

A bubble of laughter came from her left and she turned to see Jack walking into the living room, carrying a plate with a large piece of cake toppled on it. "I just asked her last night, T. There's not much to it yet."

When he sat down next to her on the love seat she stealthily grabbed his fork and dug into his cake before he could react, the shoved it into her mouth before he could react. He scowled playfully and stole the fork back from her, getting his own bite of cake and eating it- never taking his eyes off of her. She laughed as soon as she swallowed and kissed him briefly.

"Give us some time, Teal'c," Sam continued for him with a grin. "I don't know about Jack, but I'm not in a hurry."

"How can you not be in a hurry?" Cassie asked, "You've known each other for almost 9 years!"

"We've haven't even been dating for eight months, Cassie," Sam countered. "I'd like to have at least a couple of months to be engaged..."

Jack set his nearly finished cake down on the table and Pandora, who had been lounging in her bed until that point, saw it fit to finish the uneaten food off. Normally Sam would have scolded her for doing so, chocolate is not good for a dog at all, but every now and then she didn't mind her having such a rarity. "I agree with Sam, Cassie," he said with a smile. "There's a reason for the time-period between dating and marriage, planning a wedding is hard work."

"Oh," Sam exclaimed, "like you're going to be doing anything, anyway!"

He shrugged, "We haven't discussed it yet."

"You proposed last night!"

"I know," he assured her. "We'll talk about it later... for now, is anybody else hungry?"

**XXXX**

_2132 hours:_

"So," Sam questioned, walking over to where he was sitting on the couch and planting herself firmly in his lap. "Let's talking about this wedding thing."

He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, "Let's."

"Small or large?"

A shrug, "What do you want?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't already thought about it– on one hand I'd like to have a small wedding, just family and close friends, but on the other hand I'd love it if all of the SGC could come, and even some of our humanoid allies. Like the Tok'ra, which dad will be there no matter what, and Jonas... you know."

He nodded, "I've given it some thought to. If we have a big wedding, how many civilians who don't know about the SGC would be there?"

She thought about it for a second, "Just Mark, Jane, and the kids. Unless there's somebody that you'd want to invite?"

"Not that I can think of," he said with a shake of his head. No siblings, both parents passed away, and he had never been close to his mother's brother, while his father had been an only child. There wouldn't be anybody for him to invite. "So, why not just have a big wedding? There shouldn't be anything to worry about if we only invite the aliens who appear human, and we could always have some kind of extra reception at the SGC for those who can't come to the actual wedding."

"How about we wait a week... maybe longer, get used to being engaged, and then start on the planning?" Sam suggested, kissing him briefly.

"Sounds good to me," he leaned in for a deeper kiss, and she accepted for a few minutes before pulling back.

"What about kids?" she asked him suddenly, looking a bit uneasy for doing so.

"Kids?" he questioned.

"Yeah, you know... like adults only smaller."

He grinned, "I know what kids are, Sam."

She threw her hands up in mock-defense, "Hey- just making sure."

The joking seemed to calm her nerves a little, because she was actually smiling now.

"I do want children, Sam," he assured her. "Two would be great, three would be wonderful- hell, I'd be happy with only one. I am getting up there in age, though... pretty soon I'm not going to be able to chase little ones around the house."

"I know," she replied. "I was just wondering because of Charlie..."

Jack nodded, a flash of old memories flashing through his eyes. "Charlie is one of the reasons I want to have kids again, Sam. I loved him so much, I loved being a father so much. Of course I want kids, I don't know how I could not want to."

Sam was relieved to say the least. She had always been worried about whether or not he would want more children, and in her eyes the more the better. "Well, old man... if you don't have much time, we'd better get started, right?"

A grin spread across his face and his arms tightened around her body, then he stood up, holding her firmly in his arms. She squealed in surprise as he carried her down the hall and into the bedroom, pausing only to close the door behind them.

**XXXX**

_A week and a half later:_

Sam had been awake for nearly twenty minutes, just staring at him while he slept. It had been a long night for both of them, SG-4 had been captured off-world and SG-1 and SG-5 had been sent in to rescue them, while he was stuck on earth waiting worriedly. The teams had been on the planet for almost seven hours before they returned with SG-4, and although the team was a bit tattered the worst wound was Lieutenant Erickson's sprained ankle.

After their debriefing around 0200 hours that morning they had returned back home, whereupon Jack had passed out asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Sam, however, had too many things to think about to be bothered with sleep. The same thing that had kept her up earlier that morning was what had woken her before. Well, almost the same. She had been roused by a dream- during this dream she was very pregnant. Earlier that morning she had been busy obsessing over getting pregnant, which was a bit hard when the potential father was sleeping.

The night after they first discussed children they had talked about it in further detail. Both agreed that the best thing for them to do would be to try to have a child as soon as possible. Yes, the war with the Goa'uld wasn't slackening any, but they both knew that it wouldn't for quite some time. And he was already in his late forties, and she in her late thirties. If they were going to have more than one then they needed to try and get pregnant soon, add in the fact that they both wanted children already and it was a done deal.

There was a good possibility that she could already be pregnant, they had been trying every night for more than a week, but she would have to wait for a bit longer before they could know for sure. Luckily for them traveling through the 'gate had no ill effects to a fetus, so they needn't worry about her working for the first few months of pregnancy- although Jack wouldn't be sending SG-1 on any dangerous missions for the duration.

She glanced at the alarm clock, it was only 0821 hours, and they had the day off, so what was she doing up? After kissing him briefly on the cheek she snuggled up close to him, half-laying on him, and closed her eyes. He stirred at the motion, drew his arm around her body and pulled her as close as possible, then both settled into a few extra hours of needed sleep.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Alright, so I know I said that this would be the last chapter, maybe I was wrong. I still think that it's almost over, but it's just not over yet. Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter. I love feedback!**


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty One**

**Disclaimer: I regret to inform you that the show still does not belong to me...**

**XXXX**

_Three days later:_

Jack set down his keys on the coffee table, his eyes darting around the room searching for signs of life. It was early, however, and he assumed that Sam was still asleep, and from the empty space in Pandora's bed he safely assumed the now full-sized pup was keeping her company while he was working. Stepping out of his shoes and shedding his jacket as he walked down the dark hallway.

When he opened the door to their room his earlier suspicions were confirmed. Sprawled out in what was usually his side of the bed was the silver husky, sleeping peacefully. It was such a cute sight, however, that he couldn't help but grin. Sam had her arm snaked around Pandora's silky hide and was cuddling closely to her pet, her face buried in her thick hair. Jack shed his work clothes, pulled on a pair of jogging pants, and crawled into bed, gently shoving the dog. Pandora's eyes opened slowly and she snorted at him, obviously upset about being up at such an hour.

"Move over, mutt," he said gently as he ran a hand along her white and silver coat. He didn't mean it, of course, he loved Pandora as much as Sam did, if not then just a little less. The pup barked quietly at him, but moved when he gently shoved her, leaving him just enough space to squeeze in-between the two of them. Pandora changed positions and rested her head on his stomach, sighing. Jack ran a finger along the bridge of her nose, knowing that by doing so it would help further the dog into sleep. Sure enough, 'Dora's eyes drifted shut at the motion and within a few seconds she was lightly snoring.

With a smile he looked at his watch, 0432 hours. He hated when he had to stay at the SGC so late, for one reason or another. This time it ended up being due to the time difference between earth and a certain planet that SG-3 had been assigned to. When they returned at 0300 hours to earth, it was only 1300 hours on the planet. Which, as Sam had explained to him, was because the planet SG-3 had gone to was much closer to it's sun, and day's were shorter as a result.

Sometime during his musings Sam had shifted in her sleep, wrapping an arm around his waste and cuddling up against him as she had been with Pandora only minutes before. Another smile spread across his face and he was tempted to turn and face her. However, it would only end up waking both her and the dog, so he decided against it and simply closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep.

**XXXX**

When he next woke it was due to a cold, wet nose on his side. He groaned inwardly- in case Sam was still sleeping- and opened his right eye, only to come face to face with Pandora, who promptly whined. Oh yeah, she needed up! Another groan- although more audible in content- escaped his lips and he gently pushed her side. "Alright," he whispered, "alright. I'm up. Let's go."

Of course, go was all she needed to hear. In a flash Pandora was off the bed and sitting in front of the closed bedroom door, once again whining. Jack followed her out the bed, making sure not to wake his sleeping fiancée in the process, and followed her to the door, opening it quietly. 'Dora raced out of the room and towards the kitchen, which led to the sliding glass door, which led outside- which was where she needed to be.

He slid the door open and she squeezed her way through once there was enough room for her to do so. While she was doing her business he took the time to glance at the clock, and scowled because of it. Pandora had managed to wake him up only a few minutes more than a hour since he had drifted off to sleep. Dumb mutt.

A few minutes later Pandora was at the sliding glass door, scratching to get inside. Jack slid the door open for her and she came bounding inside, panting cheerfully. "You hungry girl?" he asked, figuring if he was up he might as well occupy her time.

'Dora's tail wagged happily; sure she was hungry! She would have barked a response, but she knew that barking when it was dark was not allowed. Jack had certainly told her so enough times.

"Alright," he replied, pulling out the Purina One from the cabinet, and pouring some into her silver dish. Then, he filled the other bowl up with water, and set it next to the food. Soon she was too busy to notice that he had slipped out of the kitchen, and headed back down the hallway, towards his bedroom.

Sam was awake when he slipped into bed, and she snuggled up to him comfortably. He snaked an arm around her waist and kissed her hair. "Hey," he whispered, pulling her closer to him.

She mumbled a reply and kissed him back. "When did you get home?"

He ran a hand through her hair gently, "About an hour ago... go back to sleep, it's still early."

There was no nod of confirmation, no reply at all. She simply let her eyes drift shut and cuddled up with him, wrapping her arms around his waist just as he had wrapped his around hers. Within a few minutes her breaths became slow and even, so he knew she had fallen asleep.

Jack watched her for a little while, admiring how beautiful she looked while sleeping, and wondering how the hell he became so lucky to have her in his arms. Which was nothing new, he often wondered why she had fallen for him- she was way better than he was, anyway. Somehow she seemed for overlook that, though, although he couldn't fathom how. She regularly told him that he didn't give himself enough credit, he was the bravest man she knew, one of the strongest (couldn't actually be the strongest, since there was always Teal'c... even Bra'tac, who could still kick his ass any day of the week), kindest (although, not many people saw that particular side of him), and one of the smartest men she knew. Of course, he would never let anybody other than her know exactly how smart he was. People think you're stupid and you're of no consequence, they don't need to worry about you getting suspicious or catching onto what they're really after. But, if you establish the full extent of your knowledge around them then they lie and manipulate their way onto your good side, only to turn and betray you. In his unique position it was better that people thought he was an idiot. And, the fact that he still acted like a teenager most of the time helped that immensely. Somehow, to her, he was perfect.

Since it was so early in the morning his musings quickly lulled him back to sleep, where he stayed for the remainder of the morning.

**XXXX**

"Jack," Sam's soothing voice called out to him, "wake up..."

A lone eye slowly opened, then quickly shut as the brightness of the room became apparent. "Ugh..."

He heard her laugh, "Come on, lazy- it's already after noon."

_So_? What was her point? He had only gone to bed at 5. That was only seven hours. Add that to the four he had on base the night before and that only added up to eleven for the past two days. Didn't she _know_ that?

"And...?"

"And," she replied, crawling over the bed and straddling his hips. "We're meeting Cassie for lunch in less than an hour."

He grabbed a hold of her waist, opening his eyes, and scowled. "Can't we cancel?"

"No!" she replied with mock-horror. "She and I are going to start with wedding ideas."

He threw her an incredulous look, "I thought you wanted a long engagement?"

"If we're going to get pregnant then I think we should shorten it up a bit, don't you?" It was a rectorial question, so she didn't wait for an answer- although, he was about to give her one, anyway. "You got to add the 9 months for the pregnancy, then a few months after the baby is born. And adding that up it'll be about a year before we get married. Do _you_ want to wait a year?"

He frowned, a year did seem like a long time to wait...

"Besides, I want my baby to actually be an O'Neill when he is born."

"She," he corrected.

Sam's eyes rolled, though she was only half serious. "_He_ will not be a Carter, _he_ will be an O'Neill."

"So, how long do you think the wait is going to be then?" he asked, ignoring the fact that Sam was still insisting on the fact that their child would be a boy.

"Three..." she mused, "maybe four months."

"That's all?" he questioned, three months didn't seem like nearly enough time for planning a wedding.

"I'll start to show after then," she informed him. "And, we may already be pregnant."

Jack grinned- he liked _that_ idea.

**XXXX**

Cassie was already waiting for them at the restaurant when they arrived, so were about five or six magazines that he easily recognized as wedding catalogs. They were really going to get to it, eh? Sam slid into the booth next to Cassie so they could go over things more easily and Jack sat across from them, not at all interested in what kind of dresses Sam's bridesmaids would be wearing, or what color the flowers would be.

A minute or so later their waitress arrived, wearing a bright smile. "Hi, my name is Andrea, I'll be serving you this afternoon. Are you ready to order your drinks?"

"Lemonade for me, if you have it," Sam said. Andrea nodded, telling her that they did indeed have lemonade. Which was a good thing, because Sam was cutting back on her soda intake, as well as coffee, in case she was actually with child. Cassie got Iced Tea, and Jack ordered a simple Coke. Andrea then took off to get their drinks, returning only moments later.

"Are you ready to order?" she questioned, handing them their straws.

Jack shook his head, as did Sam. Neither had gotten the chance to even look at the menu yet.

"That's fine," she assured them. "I'll be back I a few minutes."

They nodded, then began to search through the menus. A few minutes later Andrea returned, her notepad ready and the smile still on her face. Which, was a bit surprising to Jack, because the smile seemed so genuine, and who really liked waitressing? But, he guessed she was in her early twenties, so she was probably just part-time, paying for college. He ordered first, a bacon-cheese burger, cooked well-done, with mayonnaise and lettuce- no tomato. Cassie went next, just a simple salad, without onions, and with ranch dressing. Then, it was Sam's turn. She ordered a order of chicken fingers- which came with fries- as well as a side salad. The look that Jack gave her caused her to blush.

"What?" she asked, "I very well may be eating for two, you know?"

He shrugged. That really wasn't a lot of food, but for her it was something different. Normally, she would have been like Cassie and simply ordered the salad. Who was he to tell her she was eating too much, anyway? She could be eating for his child, as well, anyway. Andrea smiled at her comment and wrote her order down, then went to give it to the cook, leaving them alone to plan the wedding once more.

"I was thinking pink," Sam mused, flipping through a book of bridesmaids dresses.

"Pink?" Jack asked, a bit surprised.

"What?" she questioned. "I like pink."

"I just thought you'd pick blue..." he replied. "It is you're favorite color, right?"

She shrugged, yeah- blue was her favorite, but pink was just as nice. "What do you think, Cassie?" she asked. "You are going to be the one wearing it, of course."

It was Cassie's turn to shrug. "I like either color, Sam." She pointed at a strapless dress, "But, I do like this dress."

Sam studied it carefully, "It's pretty..."

"But?" Cassie asked, knowing her friend well enough to sense that there was more to that statement.

"I was thinking about wearing a strapless." Sam replied with a slight grin. "You wouldn't look real original."

"There's plenty more where that one came from," Cassie told her, not at all phased. "We can look some more."

Sam nodded, Cass was right. The catalog they were searching through had nearly four hundred pages, and at least three dresses per page. They were only on page 53, so there were many others to choose from.

"Have you taken the test yet?" Cassie asked, changing the subject, and reaching for her tea.

She shook her head, "I can take it in two days."

"What do you think, though?" she asked. It was Sam's body after all, even though she had never been pregnant before, she should know if there was a child beginning to form inside of it.

"I think..." Sam replied, looking over at Jack. "Within the next eight months there will be baby _boy_ O'Neill occupying my time, rather than a wedding."

Jack scowled slightly. They were going to have a _girl_. Didn't she know that?

"A boy, huh?" Cassie asked, "Wouldn't he be too much like his _father_?"

It was obvious that Cassie meant that as a bad thing, but Sam only smiled over at her husband-to-be. "That's what I'm hoping for."

**XXXX**

**A/N: To be honest guys, I have no clue when this story will end. It could be two chapters, it could be ten, heck it could even be twenty (although I doubt that). This story has the most chapters out of any that I have ever written, already, and I just don't know where my muse wants to go with it. We'll find out soon enough, I guess.**


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Two**

**Disclaimer: Nope- not my property yet.**

**A/N: Sam wants a boy because she wants him to be just like Jack (with the exceptions of her brains :)) and Jack wants to have a girl for the very same reason.**

**XXXX**

The next two days were extremely long, as far as Jack and Sam were concerned. SG-1 had no scheduled missions, so Sam was stuck in her office, which was something she would have normally loved, but it only made the wait seem longer- and Jack was stuck doing what he normally did, which was paperwork. And, that _never_ went by quickly. Nonetheless, they had to wait. If she was pregnant the embryo still wouldn't be developed enough to be detected.

Which, Sam was fairly sure that she was pregnant- without the aide of an EPT. Of course, she didn't really have much to go on, but much like Cassie had thought, she knew her body well enough to know something was different. Not to mention the fact that she was over two weeks late, which rarely ever happened. However, there was always the chance that could be wrong... again, something that rarely ever happened- but did occur from time to time.

Jack, on the other hand, was just acting straight comical. A few times he had even pulled up her shirt (while they were at home) and ran his hand along her stomach- feeling for a bulge or some sort of kicking motion. Even though he knew more about pregnancy than she did. He was the one who had already gone through it before, of course.

So, waiting aside, they had a few uneventful days. Which, was never something to truly complain about, given their work situation.

Finally, the waiting period came to an end and she could take a test. As soon as they had gotten home from work she had locked herself in the bathroom, only to emerge a moment later with the EPT in her hands. Now that their initial waiting was over, all they had to do was... wait.

It would take a couple of minutes until the results would come back, and they would know the difference by a matter of lines. Two lines, she was pregnant, one line, and no baby.

She set the test down on the counter, knowing that if she held it she would freak from the waiting period, and then they both sat on the couch. He had his back against the arm of the couch and his legs spread out, she was planted firmly in between his legs, his arms wrapped around her chest, and his chin resting in the space where her shoulder and neck met.

"What if there's no baby?" she mused.

"Then we keep trying," he replied instantly. "And, we don't stop until there is one."

A slight smile spread across her face, but it was gone just as soon as it had appeared "What if, God forbid, one of us can't have-"

"What if the earth stops tilting on it's axes?" he asked in an almost mocking tone. Without giving her time to give him a full on speech about what would happen if the earth did indeed stop turning, he continued. "Sam, you know better than to wonder about 'what ifs'. They're not worth the worry, you can never know... only theories. Not even theories, really- more like a hypothesis."

She turned slightly to look at him, "I'm so _scared_, Jack."

"I know," he said with a nod. "I am, too."

Before either could get a chance to say anything further, the phone rang. Sam grudgingly got out of his arms to answer it, Jack not far behind her. As the phone rang for the third time she picked it up, "Carter."

"Hey, Sam," Daniel's cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone. "Have you taken the test yet?"

She glanced at Jack, in their discussion she had forgotten about the test that was still sitting on the counter. By now the results would be in... "Yeah, Daniel. We haven't looked yet, though."

"Well," he asked, "why not?"

"We were talking," she explained. "Hold on a sec, we'll look at it."

Jack gave her a nervous look, and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Sam melted into his embrace, glad for the reassuring touch, and reached out for the EPT. With a heavy sigh she took the test into her shaking hand and brought it into view and her breath caught in her chest.

There were two lines. "Oh God..." she breathed into the phone.

"What?" Daniel asked from the other end. "What's wrong?"

She set the test back down and turned to her fiancé., the phone still at her ear. "We're pregnant?" it was more of a question than a statement, and her eyes held an uncertainty that nobody but him would ever see.

He smiled warmly and kissed her forehead. "Yeah," he told her, touching her cheek lovingly. "We are."

What could only be described as an excited squeal escaped her lips, causing him to laugh. Almost immediately her arms were around his neck, holding him close to her. "We're going to have a baby," she told him, as if he hadn't just found out with her. He hugged her back, grinning wildly, and burrowed his face in the space where her neck met her shoulder.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, content in holding each other, before Daniel's voice broke through their embrace. "You guys..." he called through the phone. "What's going on?"

Sam smiled to herself, and grudgingly pulled away from her husband-to-be, bringing the phone back to her ear. "Sorry Daniel," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "Tell me what the test said and we'll be even."

Jack grabbed hold of her hips, pulling her close to him, and wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned into the embrace and grinned, "Well, Daniel... you're going to be a god-father."

**XXXX**

It hadn't even been ten minutes since Sam hung up with Daniel when their phone rang again, and she knew who it was before she even picked up the phone.

"Hello, Cassie." she greeted with a smile, ready for what was coming.

"You're pregnant!" the younger woman practically yelled.

"I've only taken the one test, so far, Cass..." she explained. "But, yeah. It came back positive."

"Well, take another. Make sure." Like she hadn't already planned on doing so. Actually, there were two other test waiting to be took, and an appointment at the nearby OB-GYN.

"I am," Sam assured her.

"We should go out to eat," Cassie mused, causing Sam to smile and look over at her fiancé.

"Jack was going to cook me dinner tonight... Maybe tomorrow." Which, was true... Jack had planned on cooking dinner that night. But, that hadn't been her complete reasoning for the raincheck. Sam had plans for celebration other than a group dinner. Plans that most definitely didn't require their assistance.

Thankfully, Cassie seemed to buy her excuse. "You don't go off world?"

"As far as I know, we don't." she told her. "We'll meet up at, let's say... Cheddar's at 1900 hours."

"Ok." Cassie agreed. "But, you'll call me after you take the other tests, right?"

"Of course," Sam promised. "I'll go take them right now."

"Good, I'll be waiting."

She didn't doubt it. "Bye, Cassie."

The college student hung up the phone, and Sam turned to her husband-to-be. "I have to go take those other tests, now."

He smiled and kissed her briefly. "You go do that... I'll start on dinner."

Sam grinned, "Good, because I've already got plans for desert."

**XXXX**

Both of the extra tests had come back positive, as she had expected, but they would have to wait a few days for the results from the doctor's test. Not that they really needed it, the three EPT's were enough proof for both, but it was just precautionary. They wanted to be one hundred percent sure, and when they got the results back they could be. Until then, it was maybe ninety five percent.

Turned out that not only Cassie would be meeting them for dinner, but Daniel and Teal'c would be as well. Neither were surprised, however, and both had expected as much. Cassie had nearly jumped Sam as soon as she had seen her, but at the last second the younger woman got a reserved look in her eyes, as if she was afraid hugging Sam too close would cause the developing embryo harm.

"You're not going to break me," Sam assured her with a grin. "I'm only about six weeks along."

Cassie smiled lightly, "I know..." it was apparent to all of them, however, that she had been worried of that exact thing.

Daniel had no problem with hugging his friend close, and as soon as he had released Sam he turned to Jack and the two shared the usual male half-hug. Then it was Teal'c's turn. The Jaffa's expression was soft and gentle, but Sam could tell that even in such a situation hugging was not something he would have preferred. Sure, when she needed comforting he could lean a shoulder for her to cry on... but, he just wasn't built to be a hugger.

"Congratulations, Colonel Carter." he told her with a genuine, friendly voice that most wouldn't expect from the bulky man.

"Hey!" Jack called, defensively. "This is just as much my accomplishment as it is hers."

"Accomplishment?" Sam questioned, her right eyebrow crawling up her forehead at the very same time Teal'c's began to rise up his.

Jack shrugged, "Well... we did accomplish something."

"I'd say so," Cassie added with a snort. Sure, they had _accomplished_ a few things.

Sam grinned, then stepped on his tiptoes and kissed her friend on the cheek. "Thank you, Teal'c."

"You are most welcome," he replied with a half-nod. Then he turned to Jack, "I give congratulations to you, as well, O'Neill."

Jack thanked Teal'c, then wrapped an arm around Sam's waist, pulling her close. "Let's go on in and get us a table, then."

Nobody could argue with that. It was a nice day outside, and all, but they were hungry, and they could carry out the very same conversation inside the restaurant. It was fairly packed, but it only took the lighter part of a ten minute wait until they were seated at a booth in the non-smoking section. Jack was being extra cautious, now that they knew for sure, and none of them were smokers, anyway. Plus, smoke was one of the many things to which Danny was allergic.

They all piled into the large, round booth comfortably, but if there had been somebody else with them he or she would have had to pull up an extra chair, because there was absolutely no extra room. The waitress took their drink orders, then left to give them a few minutes to decided on what they wanted for dinner. Cassie, Daniel, and Jack each got a coke, Sam got iced tea, and Teal'c simply ordered water. The Jaffa wasn't very big on flavored drinks.

As soon as the waitress left their earlier discussion was picked up again. "So," Daniel asked, "any hopes on gender?"

Cassie snorted, earning a scolding look from both Jack and Sam, and a confused look from Daniel, as well as a raised eyebrow from Teal'c. She said nothing further, however, and gave Sam and Jack her full attention.

"_I_ want a boy," Sam explained, looking over at her husband-to-be. "Jack wants a girl."

"Oh," Daniel replied. "I see."

"We'll find out soon enough," Sam told them. "In a little over a month and a half the ultrasounds will be able to tell us if it's a boy or girl."

"So," Cassie asked, "you're gonna find out the sex then?"

She looked over at Jack, they hadn't really discussed it, but she figured it'd be the best thing for them to do. That way they knew what color clothes to buy, how to decorate the baby's room, things of that nature. "If that's what Jack wants, then... yeah."

He placed his hand on her thigh lovingly, "It doesn't matter to me. I would love to have a little girl, but a baby boy would be just as nice. As long as he or she is perfectly healthy, and looks exactly like it's mom."

Sam smiled at his reasoning. Oh no, their baby was going to look like it's father. She had decided that much already, boy or girl she wanted the baby to have his eyes, at the very least, and his smile, too. The hair... well, she was partial to a little blonde boy or girl, but brunettes were perfectly fine, as well.

"We'll see," she told him with a grin. The baby could have her brain, maybe, but it was going to have his looks. She hoped.


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Three**

**Disclaimer: Well... no. They're not my property.**

**A/N: Nah, no twins in this story. Sorry. Although, I have read that older women have a higher chance of having twins... just a piece of trivia. (I'm a twin... but my mom was 22 when she had me. :)) That's just another piece of trivia.**

**XXXX**

They only had to wait two days for the test results to come back, and confirm what they already knew. Sam was, indeed, pregnant, and from the time line that Jack and Sam had given them they estimated that the baby would be born sometime late March, or early April. By the time the end of September rolled around, and she entered into her second trimester, they would be able to do an ultrasound, in order to find out the sex of the infant, if they so choose to.

Which, seemed like a likely thing for them to do, since neither was letting up on their decisions. Sam still stated that they were having a little boy, and Jack was stubborn in his view that she was carrying a baby girl. Daniel and Cassie were on Jack's side, but Teal'c had decided that Sam was the correct one. When Sam had called General Hammond to give him the good news he sided with Jack, and her father had yet to return contact, some sort of important Tok'ra mission.

So, for the time being Jack was in the lead, with more people siding with him. That thought always made Sam crack a smile, because Jack had turned their disagreement into a 'guess the baby's sex correctly' contest, and thus far she was losing. He had yet to inform her what she would have to do if she ended up being wrong, but she was sure he hadn't even thought of anything. It was their child's gender they were talking about, anyway, not some game. Not that she minded the competition, on the contrary, she found it quite amusing. No matter that only one person agreed with her about the sex of their child. She was going to have a boy, she just knew it.

Although, she would have no arguments with a beautiful baby girl. Even if it did mean being wrong while Jack was smugly right. Which, she knew that should she have a daughter, he would rub it in her face until the end of time, if only for the sole reason that he could. It really wasn't every day he was the correct one between the two of them, unless it involved big, honkin' space guns, of course. With those he was _always_ right.

The sound of her heavy, metal lab door sliding open caught her attention, breaking her musings, and she looked to the source of the distraction, smiling when she saw who it was. "Shouldn't you be off doing paperwork?" she asked.

He scowled, although not at all seriously, and raised an eyebrow in true Teal'c fashion. "That's, 'shouldn't you be off doing paperwork, _Sir_' to you, Colonel."

"Oh," she replied, putting on her best hurt look. "I'm sorry, Sir."

With a shrug he sat down on one of the chairs sitting in front of her desk. "As long as you're sorry about it..."

A grin spread across her face and she set the battery she had been working on down, "Is there something I can help you with, _General O'Neill_?"

"Yup," he said, nodding. "You can accompany me to dinner."

Dinner? Already? She looked at her watch, surprised when the time read 1954, was it really that late? Wow.

"I think I can spare a few minutes," she told him. "Just you and me?"

"Nah," he replied. "T and Danny are waiting for us in the commissary."

Oh, joy. Recently, when the four of them got together the only thing they ended up talking about was the baby. And, depending on which person was doing the talking, how it was going to be a girl, or how she was most definitely carrying a boy. "This sounds like a tag-team match to me, sir."

Jack only shrugged again. It probably would end up being something like that, but he hadn't planned it that way... Ok, so maybe the thought had crossed his mind, _once_. But, it never really turned into a full-fledged plan. Besides, when it came to arguing Teal'c and Sam did a much better job than he ever could, even with Daniel's help. He had only set himself up for a losing battle.

"Come on," he told her, holding out his hand for her. "They're waiting on us."

She snorted, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "Teal'c waits for nobody, when it comes to food."

Well... that was true. "Ok... Danny's waiting for us."

Sam grinned and slipped her arm around his waist, "Now _that_ I can believe."

**XXXX**

Sam was surprised, to say the least. Instead of getting into a match about who was right, and who was wrong, Daniel and Jack decided to spit out all the theories and myths of pregnancy. Much to Teal'c and Sam's amusement. Sam because she knew how bogus each and every one of them were (she had already gotten on the internet and looked all of them up, anyway) and Teal'c because it just added to his conclusion that the Tau'ri were a very strange race.

"Her face does look a bit rounder," Daniel suggested. "Rosy, too. So, that means you're carrying a girl, Sam."

Which caused her to scowl. "My face is _not_ rounder."

"I don't know, Sam," Jack added. "It looks a bit round to me."

Sam glanced over at Teal'c, who looked totally lost. "Does my face look round to you, Teal'c?"

"Indeed, it does not," he told her, wondering how on earth the roundness of her face proved that she was carrying a daughter.

"Thank you," she said with a smug grin.

"You're carrying a bit high, too." Jack told her in all seriousness, "So you know what that means."

"I'm not even showing yet!" she retorted. "I won't be for months."

Jack shrugged, "Then maybe you should lay off the bread."

Even Daniel had to snicker at that comment, but Sam was ready with her reply. "You know, Jack, I think maybe you're putting on some weight, too. You know they say that if the father gains weight along with the mother, they're having a boy."

It was Jack's turn to scowl. He was not gaining weight.

"I do not understand these methods," Teal'c confessed. "How do they prove what gender Colonel Carter's baby will be?"

"It's my baby, too," Jack told him, still scowling.

"They're just myths, Teal'c. There's not one shred of evidence behind them, they're only for fun."

"And the sake of an argument," Daniel added.

Sam nodded. If Jack was in on the conversation than that was pretty much the truth.

"We've still got a bunch of methods to try out at home," he said with a shrug. "There's the Draino method, the ring test, and you know the Chinese Lunar Calender say's you're gonna have a girl."

Daniel gave him a confused look, "Alright... I know the ring test and the Lunar Calender, but the Draino method."

"Oh," Jack replied, "it's not that hard. You see, you get about two tablespoons of crystal Draino and then two to three ounces of–"

"Jack," Sam cut him off, "not while we're eating." Of course, she already knew what else you needed for that particular method, and how you could tell through the results, and it wasn't something she wanted to think about when she was having dinner. "Maybe later."

He shrugged, not at all concerned about his friends eating habits. "Sure."

"Good," she replied, taking a sip of her water.

Daniel gave her an odd look, then shrugged. "I still say you're face is rounder, though."

**XXXX**

"Ok," Jack asked, "you ready?"

"You sure this is going to work?" she asked, looking over at him. "I mean, it's an engagement ring, not a wedding ring."

"There's nothing in the rules that says it can't be an engagement ring," he smiled. "Now, pay attention."

"Fine," she told him, "go ahead."

With the confirmation from his fiancee, Jack dropped the ring that was in his hand, holding firmly to the string that was attached to it. It bounced a few times, due to the change in inertia, then rocked side to side... or, did it go around in a circle?

"Ha!" Jack called, watching the ring closely. "You see that, it's going from one side, to the other."

Sam shook her head, staring at the ring that was dangling only a few inches from her bare stomach. "No... I clearly saw it go in a circular pattern."

"You are so lying," he accused. "That clearly went from side to side."

She shook her head, "I think your eyes are playing tricks on you, old man. It went in a circle."

He scowled, "Well... the draino test already said we're having a girl, and so did the Lunar Calender."

"And, now this one is telling you otherwise." she pointed out. The ring had gone in a circle, after all. She had seen it plain as day. "Not to mention the fact that my face is certainly not rounder!" Which was true, as well. Sam had spent nearly ten minutes in the bathroom making sure that her face was just as none-rounded as it had been the month prior.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. "Whatever."

Sam grabbed the ring from where it stood still above her stomach and undid the string that was attached to it, before she placed it back on her finger. "They're only silly myths, anyway."

"Sure," he said with a slight drawl. "Myths..."

"Oh, so I take it you believe that because the Chinese Lunar Calender says I'm having a daughter, then there's no way I could be carrying a son?"

He nodded.

"Well, then you're just gonna have to take that up with your little swimmers, because I'm having a boy." she told him as she got off of the bed, heading for the living room.

Jack scowled, she always brought that up! Just because it was up to the male to decided the sex didn't mean it would be _his_ fault if they were having a boy. Well, ok... maybe it did mean that. But, he didn't have to hear it every day, nor did he have to acknowledge it when he did.

"We'll see about that," he called after her with a huff.

That ring had gone from side to side, there was no way she could have seen it otherwise. They were having a daughter.

**XXXX**

It only took him five minutes of sulking in their bedroom before he followed her into the living room. She was sitting down on the floor in front of the coffee table, which was cluttered with various papers and samples. With a small grin he sat behind her on the couch, resting his hands on her shoulders and massaging them gently. She melted into the caress and ignored her planning for a few blissful seconds. He had no idea how good that felt.

A minute or so later he stopped, kissing her on the spot where her neck met her shoulder, causing her to shiver. "How's the planning coming?"

She groaned, it wasn't coming at all. Who ever knew weddings were so much work?

"I say we just elope."

"And risk your father coming after me?" Jack asked, shocked. "Never."

"We can tell him it was my idea... so I wouldn't have any added stress. That's bad for the baby, you know."

Jack grinned, "Then let me help you."

"You? Plan a wedding? Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," he replied. "I've done this before, remember?"

"You and Sarah went to the court house," she reminded him. "So, no. You haven't done this before."

Well, that was true. "But, that doesn't mean I can't help you."

Also true. "Alright," she patted the space directly next to her. "Sit here and help."

He did as he was told, and sat down on the floor next to her. "Alright, so... what are we doing first?"

"Bridesmaids and groomsmen." That was the easiest thing, anyway.

"Daniel and Teal'c." he replied, immediately.

Well duh. Of course they would his groomsmen. "Only two?"

"What about bridesmaids?" he questioned, putting her in the hot seat.

"Well, Cassie's my maid of honor. And, then there's Mark's wife, Tracie..."

Yeah... he already knew that. "Only two?"

She scowled. "I don't have a lot of time for friends, you know. And, it's not like there's a bunch of women running around at the SGC, anyway. Most of them are nurses or doctors, who I only see when I'm hurt. Then, add the _five_ women on the many SGC teams, who I never see because they're always off-world, or I am, and that doesn't leave me with many females to socialize with."

"Oh, come on," he said. "You've gotta gossip a bit while you're in the locker room."

"Jack, the last thing I'm concerned about when I'm in the locker room is gossip. I'm normally do good to even get done with my shower and changing before I have to be at the debriefing, or the infirmary for my post-mission check up."

Good point. "Ok... so, maybe there aren't very many options for either of us."

"You could always ask Hammond, or Jonas."

"I'm sure Jonas would," he told her. "But, I'm not so sure about Hammond. He doesn't seem like the type to be in weddings, rather the type to watch the wedding."

She had to agree with him, "But, it's always an honor to ask."

"Ok, then who else are you going to ask?"

Good question. If only she had an answer. "...I'll think of something."

She was a genius anyway, and this was only a wedding.

How hard could it be?

**XXXX**

**A/N: So, I realize that all the tests and myths are really dumb, but I thought it would be cute to see Jack and Sam in that kind of situation. I'm not even close to being old enough to even think about having kids, but I'd like to think when I do get pregnant I'll do all those meaningless tests...**


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Four**

**Disclaimer: I own Pandora (as well as Sierra, her mother, and Chloe, Sierra's owner) and besides them, I don't own anything else. Definitely not Papa John's (mentioned down further), either. Or, any movie written by Steven King... obviously.**

**XXXX**

"Pandora!" Sam called as she stuck her head out the back door, "Come here girl!"

A streak of silver rushed to the sliding glass door, it's tail wagging happily. Her Sam was home! When she made it to where Sam was standing she jumped up, resting her paws on Sam's thighs and giving Sam her best 'I missed you' look. It worked, as always, and Sam gave the dog a loving hug before she ran her hands through her hair, scratching her skin because she knew that Pandora loved it when she did so. "Did you miss me, 'Dora?"

With a bark for her response Pandora's tail speed up in it's wagging. Of course she missed her! Jack was nice and all, but nobody could take Sam's place... Unless they had steak, of course. And even then it would be a hard choice.

Sam smiled at the Husky, "Are you hungry?"

Heck yes she was hungry. Another bark gave Sam her answer, so she pushed Pandora's paws away gently and turned to go back into the house, "Come on then, let's get you some lunch."

Like Pandora was going to argue with that? She happily followed her human into the house and waited by her silver dish. Sam filled it up for her and the dog started on it immediately. Giving 'Dora a affectionate slap on the side Sam left the kitchen, headed for the bedroom to find her fiancé.

He wasn't there, which she found a bit odd. When she had checked the living room he hadn't been there, either. She knew he was home, his truck was in the driveway and the people at the base had told her that he had left only an hour before she had returned. "Jack?" she called out, walking back down the hallway into the living room. He still wasn't there...

When she heard her voice Pandora abandoned her food, which was already more than halfway done, and met Sam in the living room. "Do you know where Jack is, 'Dora?"

Pandora wagged her tail. Nope, she had no clue where he was. But, if Sam wanted her to she would find him.

"Let's go find him, huh girl?"

Sure. She would help Sam. The blonde Colonel scratched the dog's head and then headed off towards the garage. Maybe he had gotten some kind of testosterone kick and wanted to work on something with his big tools. That happened from time to time.

When she neared the garage she heard the distinct sound of a hammer banging against a nail and winced at the resounding noise. 'Dora whined a bit, getting the short end of the stick since her hearing was much better than the humans, and Sam looked at her with sympathy. "Go on and finish your lunch, puppy. I've got it from her."

Another thing she wasn't going to argue with. Pandora barked her thanks then turned back and headed for the kitchen, and food.

Sam smiled as the dog retreated and reached out for the handle to the garage door, twisting it open. Sure enough he was working on something with his largest hammer, but what he was working on was what surprised her. It was a lightly colored wooden crib, one that could serve as a boy's bed or a girl's bed easily. She felt tears stinging in her eyes and blinked to hold them back, she had heard about becoming emotional when pregnant, but this was crazy! It was just a crib.

"Jack?" she called out, as loudly as she could, over the noise.

He stopped mid swing and turned to look at her, "Hey," he greeted. "When did you get home?"

"A few minutes ago," she replied, walking into the garage. "What are you working on?"

He turned back to the pile of wood and screws and nuts and bolts, "I figured the sooner we get ready for the baby, the better. It was going to be a surprise..." he frowned. "You're home early."

She nodded, "The people of P4Q-311 didn't want us there..."

A worried look danced in his eyes, "Is everybody alright? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"Oh, no," she reassured him. "It was nothing like that. They were just a bit primitive and weren't really ready for what we had to say, so they ordered us away. They had nothing to offer and wouldn't really be helpful in our battle against the Goa'uld, and they were well off and didn't need our help, so there was no use in upsetting them by staying." She shrugged her shoulders and headed for the door to the house, "I'm only two months along, you know? I still have seven more to go. There's plenty of time to do this later."

"You have something else in mind?" he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Actually," she explained, not phased by his look in the slightest. "The guys were planning on coming over... to watch movies and order pizza, stuff like that."

He scowled, but nodded all the same. "What time we're they planning on coming over?"

A grin spread across her face, "Not for- oh, three or four hours..."

"Really?" he asked. "And, what do you propose we do until then?"

She shrugged, "Looks to me like you're busy..."

"Like you said," he replied, taking a step closer to her. "We've got seven more months until the baby is born. The crib can wait another day."

Like she was going to argue with that?

**XXXX**

Daniel and Teal'c ended up arriving at a few minutes past 1700, pizza in hand. Which, was a good thing because Sam and Jack hadn't ordered anything yet, and both were hungry. Pandora met the two at the door with an excited bark, no doubt because she smelled the pepperoni, even though she knew she couldn't have it. Sam let them in, holding her back so she didn't jump Daniel, who was holding the Papa John's box.

"Did you guys bring movies, or are we going to pick from something here?" she asked as they walked past her into the house.

"We figured since we provided the food you would provide the entertainment." Daniel replied, taking the pizza into the kitchen and setting it on the counter. Much to Pandora's distress, since she couldn't reach the counters. She had been hoping he would have set it on the table, she could get on the table... just, not the counter. Darn.

"Alright, I'll find something." she headed for the entertainment center and opened the compartment which held the DVD's. After rummaging through their selection of movies she picked a large box out, "What about 'The Green Mile'?"

"Never seen it," Daniel called from the kitchen. Sam looked over at Teal'c, who shook his head. He had never seen it, either.

"Neither of you have ever watched 'The Green Mile'?"

"Indeed, we have not, Colonel Carter." Teal'c replied, causing Sam to sigh.

"Well, we'll just have to watch it then."

"Watch what?" Jack asked, coming from the garage and wiping the sawdust off his jeans.

"The Green Mile," Sam replied, opening the box and taking out the first disc.

"Hmm," he replied. "Never seen it."

Sam gave him an incredulous look, "You've haven't seen it, either? Good Lord, you guys don't get out enough. This is one of the best movies ever. Certainly the best of Steven King."

"I don't know, Sam," Daniel said, coming out of the kitchen with his plate of pizza in hand. "'The Storm of the Century' is kind of hard to beat."

"What?" Jack recoiled. "'The Stand' is by far his best work."

"We'll see what you two say when this is over, alright?" Sam said, seeing an argument forming before her eyes. "Until then, sit down and get ready for the movie to come on."

**XXXX**

"_Don't put me in the dark, Boss,"_ John Coffee begged. "_I'sa 'fraid of the dark."_

Sam sniffled quietly, looking around to make sure nobody could see her crying. Damn hormones. Damn movie. Jack's hand found it's way to her thigh reassuringly and she scowled to herself, he was supposed to be paying attention to the movie, not to her stupid off sync feelings. She sent him a small smile, telling him she was fine, and he turned back to the TV.

"_Roll on two,"_ Tom Hanks character said sadly.

Another sniff filled the room and Sam looked around, surprised. She hadn't done that- one of the guys must have. It was too dark to see anything, but it had been far enough away that she knew it hadn't been Jack, and it most definitely wasn't Teal'c, so that left Daniel. The big softy.

Fifteen or so minutes later the movie ended and Jack got up to turn the lights on and the DVD player off. Sam wiped her eyes off, getting rid of her stubborn tears, and sighed. That movie always got to her, hormones or no. That and Armageddon were the only movies she had ever cried while watching, but she had only cried the first time she saw Armageddon. Somehow, no matter how many times she had seen The Green Mile, a tear or two always rolled down her cheek, most of the time more than such.

"So?" she asked, looking around the room, smirking to herself when she noticed Daniel's own red eyes. "What did you all think?"

Teal'c nodded, "It was, indeed, a very interesting film."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "So... maybe there is a movie better than 'Storm of the Century'. At least by King, anyway."

She turned to Jack, "What about you?"

He took the second DVD out and put it back into it's box, "I'll admit, it was better than I thought it was going to be. But, I still say that 'The Stand' is better."

Sam snorted, he would- if only for the sake of a disagreement. "Well, I can't really comment on that, having never seen 'The Stand', myself."

Jack gasped in horror, "That's so wrong."

"We can watch it next time," Daniel said, picking up his plate and heading for the kitchen. "We'll have to start earlier, though, it's like 6 or more hours long."

"I think it's like 8," Jack mused. "I'm not sure."

"Well," Sam added, "if we don't have any missions next weekend that's what we'll do."

"Indeed, we do have a mission, Colonel Carter." Teal'c informed her, also getting up to bring his dishes to the kitchen. "To P3S-235."

"Oh," she had completely forgotten. Or, maybe she just hadn't gotten the memo. In her time as a Colonel she had found that memos didn't always find their way to your desk- Jack had had a bit of credence while he was the CO of SG-1, she guessed, because half the time Daniel or Teal'c had to tell her about when and where they were going on their next mission. "We can't do it the weekend after next, we have a mission to visit dad and the Tok'ra. But, I know we're not doing anything the weekend after that."

She would be in her second trimester then, and already had a scheduled appointment at her OB-GYN for an ultrasound. "We can do it that Sunday. If you guys don't mind the waiting."

Both shook their heads, it was fine with them. "We can invite Cassie, too." Daniel said. "It's her last weekend before going back to school."

"If she wants to come that's fine with us," Jack told him. "We'll call her tomorrow."

"Well," Daniel said, looking at his watch. "It's only ten o'clock now..."

"You guys can stay a bit longer if you want," Sam offered. "We don't have anything to do."

"Nah," Daniel said, grabbing his keys from the coffee table. "I was going to research some rubbings tomorrow, so I should get back home and get some sleep. Plus, I have to drop Teal'c off at the base."

That would get him home at around 2300 and knowing him he would start on his rubbings then, rather than waiting for morning. "We'll see you guys Monday."

They headed out the door, Pandora close behind them, begging to be petted one last time before they left. Daniel scratched her behind her ears before walking out the door, and Pandora waited by the entrance for him to come back.

"Get over here, you big baby," Jack called out to her. Her ears perked up and she came bounding towards the couch where he was sitting, jumping up on it and climbing halfway into his lap, her tongue assaulting him. "Bah," Jack groaned, pushing her back a bit. "Stop that mutt."

"Don't call her that," Sam said defensely, although she knew he was just playing. "She's not a mutt."

'Dora barked happily. Nope, she wasn't. Her bloodline was pure.

Sam smiled and gave her an affectionate hug, "It's time for you to go to bed, little miss."

Darn. Pandora was hoping she would forget about that. She barked happily once more and reached out to kiss Sam.

"That's not going to work," Sam told her, pulling back. "Come on, it's already past your bedtime."

Grr. Since when did dogs have bedtimes?

"Oh, stop being such a big baby. You can sleep in our room tonight," she told her as she smacked Pandora on the side lovingly.

Pandora's tail wagged in response, maybe going to bed wasn't such a bad thing.

**XXXX**

**A/N: I know not much happened in this chapter, but it's just a filler between the last one and the next one. Let me know what you think, anyway. Besides, I think that every full blooded American (and Canadian, and European, and Australian, etc) should see The Green Mile... I, like Sam, think that it's the best Steven King has to offer (although, like Daniel I think The Storm of the Century is not far behind, then the Stand right after it). So, if you haven't seen it, rent it one day and watch it. You won't be disappointed, I swear!**


	35. Chapter Thirty Five

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Five**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

**A/N: Alright this skipped forward like two weeks. In the last chapter I mentioned that Sam and SG-1 were going off world to see the Tok'ra (mainly her father!) That's where we are.**

**XXXX**

She stepped through the event horizon and glanced around, her eyes searching for the familiar face that was to be waiting for them. The bald, smiling form of her father was standing just to the right of the 'Gate and when he noticed her come through his grin broadened, no doubt because of the slight bulge that was beginning to show, even through her fatigues. It wasn't much, but since her stomach had been flat before it was fairly noticeable, although some people tended to miss it.

Her father, of course, was not going to be one of those people. Jacob Carter gave his daughter a wide grin, amusement dancing in his eyes, and made his way over to where she and SG-1 were standing, placing his hand on her stomach and ignoring the roll of her eyes. "It's a girl," he told her. "I know it."

Sam rolled her eyes once more, but gave her father a warm smile. "I'm sure Jack will be happy to hear that," she told him. "So far you, Jack, Daniel over here, Hammond, and Cassie all agree with him."

"Not to forget Sel'mac." Jacob reminded him.

Damn. She forgot about that- Jacob counted as two people. That set the score at 6 to 2, in favor of Jack. "Are you sure you think it's a girl?" she asked, frowning.

"Well..." he said with a sigh. "You're forgetting that your mother had both you and your brother- so I know the difference between carrying a girl and carrying a boy, and your cheeks seem a bit rosy. Not to mention the fact that even through those baggy military close I can tell you're carrying a bit high."

"Oh whatever!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "I'm hardly even carrying at all... how can you tell?" At least he hadn't said her face was rounder, which was something Jack and Daniel commented on frequently.

He placed his hand over her stomach again, moving it around to feel the swell. "That's how I can tell, Sammie. Trust me, I'm the kid's grandpa. I know these things."

Obviously not, because he was wrong. She was having a boy.

"We'll see next weekend." she chided. "Wasn't there something else we needed to take care of, though?"

Jacob smiled at the change of stomach and nodded, "Yes there is." With a wave of his hand he gestured for them to head to their right, and he lead his daughter by placing his hand on the small of her back. Sam smiled to herself, what was it about a pregnant woman that had men so high strung? It wasn't like she was fragile glass that could be shattered with the wrong touch, why did a woman instantly become damaged goods when she was with child? It was a bit frustrating.

"So?" Jacob asked as they walked down the tunnel. "How's Pandora doing?"

"She's good," Sam told him. "Finally full sized, too. The bad thing about having a Husky during summer time, though, is the fact that she sheds all the time. I don't mind though, neither does Jack, even though he complains about it... she's spoiled."

"It's good practice for the baby," Jacob said with a smug grin. "Especially because they're both girls."

Sam scowled.

**XXXX**

"So," Daniel asked, after the Tok'ra finished their discussion. "That's all we were called here for?"

Sel'mac nodded, "Indeed, it is."

"Couldn't you just have sent us a message, you know... _Another Goa'uld is dead. _Something like that."

Sel'mac- Jacob shrugged, "Shesmu was not a System Lord, though he was well on his way to becoming one. Would it have made a difference if the Tok'ra had simply sent a message through the Stargate?"

Well, not, it probably wouldn't have. Except for saving a bit of time, and Sam had wanted to see her father anyway. "So, there's nothing else on the agenda for today, right?" They weren't due to return home until the next morning and she would like to catch up with her father, maybe even convince him that he was wrong and she was having a boy. At the very least she just wanted to talk, they hadn't done so in awhile, and she missed her father. Nothing wrong with that.

"How is Mark doing?" he asked, when they were alone in his quarters.

"Great, they're doing just fine. The little ones are getting so big, you should come home one weekend and go see them. I could probably get some time off, if I asked nice enough," Sam grinned, knowing that no matter how she asked Jack would give her two days off to see her brother and his family. Oh yeah, she had him wrapped around her finger, which was one of the better things about pregnancy. "Do you think you could get away for a few days? I'm sure Mark would love to see you."

"He'd probably rather see his sister and his niece." he said with a smile, his eyes twinkling with humor.

"His nephew," Sam reminded him. "I'm having a boy."

"Sure," he nodded. "So, you're almost three months along?"

"Sometime this week, yeah. Our OBGYN appointment is next weekend, so hopefully we'll be able to figure out what the sex is then, because although the little bet is cute I'd like to get the nursery done before I'm too huge."

"What about the wedding?" Jacob asked, remembering that she had told him they wanted to get married before the baby was born.

"As of yet we're thinking some time next month. We've got almost everything together, but we still have to find a place big enough to fit all of our guest. There's a huge Baptist church down the street from his house and an even bigger Methodist church a few extra miles away, but since we both grew up going to Baptist churches we're probably going to end up at that one. It'll seat everybody on our list, so now all we've got to do is book the church and send out the invitations."

"And everybody from the SGC is invited?" Jacob questioned.

Sam nodded, "Everybody from the SGC, some of the humanoid aliens, the Tok'ra... we're having two receptions. One right after the wedding and one after we get back from our honeymoon. The second one is going to be at the SGC and all of our non human allies are going to be invited to come, at least as many as will fit."

"Where at the SGC is it going to be?" her father asked, running the setting of Stargate Command in his mind. "There's not really that many large, open spaces."

"We're gonna figure that one out, but that' still a month and a half away."

The Tok'ra nodded, "Where are you going for your honeymoon?"

"On a seven day cruise to the Bahamas." she grinned. "I've always wanted to go to the Bahamas and go on a cruise so this is just killing two birds with one stone."

Jacob nodded, a little jealous that his daughter was going on a cruise when he had never been on one. Then he thought about it some more, "You're going to be limited to what you can do, Sammie. You know that, right?"

"I'll be four months along, it won't be that hard. But, yeah, I realize that the hiking and the scuba diving are going to be scratched off the list, but there's shallow water snorkeling and some dolphin encounter thing that will be a lot of fun. I really just want to be able to lay on the beach and relax for a few days." She shrugged, "We thought about doing the Mexican one, and going to the Aztec temples, but we figured once you've seen one set of ancient ruins you've seen them all."

"Isn't that the same as the beach?"

"Nah," she replied. "Not when you've got shore excursions to go on."

"Well, you'll bring you're old man some seashells back, right?" he might as well get something out of it. Most of the Tok'ra had never seen a beach, so they would probably find the seashells and sand dollars of earth fascinating. Plus, he missed earth things like that. It was hard, living on an entirely different planet than the one you grew up and spent most of your life on. Not to mention, the place your children still lived.

"Any morning sickness?" he questioned, changing the subject. "Your mother didn't really get it... but some mornings it hit her bad."

Sam shrugged, "On a few occasions, yeah, but most of the time I'm a bit light headed or nauseous. It only takes a few minutes of sitting down or some water and I'm fine."

"That's good..."

She was about to reply when Anise came into the room. Why again did the Tok'ra find it necessary not to have doors?

"Is there something that you require?" Sel'mac asked, his eyes flashing.

"I came to see Colonel Carter," she told him. "If you do not mind, I would like to speak with her, alone."

With an inward sigh she looked at her father and nodded, might as well see what she wanted. Sel'mac sighed, not like the invasion of privacy any more than Jacob and Sam did, but gave his own nod of approval to Anise. "If you wish."

Jacob left the room, scowling to himself, and Anise entered completely. "Colonel Carter, I wanted to congratulate you on your pregnancy."

Why did she sense that there was more to this than just a congragulations?

"How is General O'Neill?"

"He's fine," Sam told her. "Am I talking with Anise or Freya?"

"I am Anise, Freya is here as well. Would you like to speak with her?"

Oh, there was no way in hell. "That's fine, Anise. Was there something else you needed?"

"It is about Daniel Jackson," Anise told her. Sam finally got it. Yes, Freya had a thing for her fiancé, she knew that much, but Jack had also mentioned that the "snake half" liked Daniel for his "mind". His mind her right foot, Anise was just like all the other women at the SGC. Sure, Danny was good looking, and young, she admitted that much. But, because of her feelings towards him as a brother and her love for Jack the most she saw was an attractive face. Unlike the others who couldn't quit talking about his defined arms and tight butt. Sam shuddered.

"What about him?"

Anise looked around, as if she was making sure nobody was listening. "Is he currently attached?"

Was Daniel seeing somebody? Not anything serious, as far as she knew, but there were a few dates here and there. He just never seemed to be able to settle down with anybody, and most of the time he went out with a woman once or twice before both agreed that there was nothing between them. "Not as far as I know of... why?"

"It is nothing," Anise assured her. "I will not take up any more of your time."

Sam had no objections to that. The further away from that woman the better. "If you see my father, can you please tell him I went to find Teal'c?"

Like she was going to tell her that she was going to find Daniel and make fun of him for Anise's school girl crush.

"I will," Anise promised. "Thank you."

Yeah, sure. She smiled sweetly and then left the room, heading down the corridor for where Daniel and Teal'c had told her they were headed. No doubt that was where her father had gone, anyway.

**XXXX**

Jack was waiting for them just beyond the ramp when they dialed back home. He smiled at Sam, effectively ignoring the other two, not that they cared much. They just wanted to get into a shower, get checked out by Brightman, debrief, then go home (or stay on the base, depending on which one) and sleep. Sam wanted to do all of those things, too, but her first stop was her fiancé.

"He says a girl," she scowled. "And that because of Sel'mac he counts as two."

Jack grinned widely, "What's that now... 6 to 2?"

Sam nodded, yeah, that was the score. "The doctor counts as five votes."

That way if she even guessed that it was a boy Sam would be in the lead.

"Fine," Jack told her. "She's just going to say that it's a girl."

"Well, we'll find out next week."

Daniel and Teal'c were still hanging around, waiting for Jack to tell them what to do. They already knew what he was going to say, but they still had to wait. It was the rules.

"Anise still has a crush on Daniel," Sam informed him. "She wanted to know if he was 'currently attached'."

Jack couldn't help but laugh, "That's interesting."

Daniel scowled. No it wasn't. It was embarrassing. "Well, Freya was asking about you, too..."

"I'm engaged, she can ask all she wants." Jack said. "There's not that much she can do."

"That's she's not already done, that is," Daniel said with a smirk.

It was Sam and Jack's turn to scowl. Both knew Daniel was speaking of when Freya had kissed him during the Zatarc incident. "That was before," Sam reminded him. "If she tries anything she has to answer to me."

Daniel smiled, "I know."

Jack sent them off and then turned back to Sam. "Why don't you go get checked out, then when the guys get done with the shower get one in."

She nodded, "Alright... Oh, I forgot to ask- you know the weekend after next?"

"The one where we're going to watch over twelve hours of Steven King."

Sam frowned, "Yeah... that one."

"What about it?"

"Do you think I could have that Friday off, so dad and I can go see Mark?"

He thought about it, "If I can come with."

"Really?" Sam asked, "You want to come?"

"The man is going to be my brother in law, of course I want to come."

"It sounds good to me."

"Besides, we can see what he thinks the sex of the baby is going to be. Even though it won't do any good- we're having a girl."

Yeah, yeah. Whatever. She had heard it all before.

"We're having a boy!" she called as she exited the room, headed for the infirmary.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Well, I didn't know that the Shawshank Redemption was a Steven King movie, but I love it! Still can't say it's better than the Green Mile, but it is better than the Stand and maybe even Storm of the Century...**


	36. Chapter Thirty Six

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Six**

**Disclaimer: Nah, they're not mine this time, either.**

**A/N: So, we've jumped another week. Sam is now 3 months along...**

**XXXX**

"Jack!" Sam called out, as she stood by the open door. "If you don't hurry we'll miss our appointment!"

"I'm coming!" he called from a distant room. She sighed, looking out the door at his truck impatiently. If she started up the car right now it would take less time to get there, and they might not be _so_ late... but where were his keys? Glancing around the room she tried to think of the last time she saw them. Since her pregnancy Jack made sure whenever she drove (at least whenever he knew about her driving) she took his truck, safety reasons he said... her car was nice and all, but it was smaller and she could be hurt far worse if she got into an accident in it than in his truck. The summer breeze came through the open door, messing with her hair, and she sighed again as she ran her fingers through it. How could he possibly be running late? They'd been preparing for this appointment for more than a week!

Pandora's happy barking from the backyard and then the quickened closing of the sliding glass door told her that Jack must have brought Pandora something to eat before they left. "Are you almost ready?" she questioned, still holding the door open and waiting for him so they could leave.

There was no reply, instead Jack came out of the kitchen, wearing a lopsided smile and nodded. "Let's go, Campers."

Sam looked down at her stomach, and placed a hand over it comfortingly. "Please don't have your father's sense of time..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Sam," Jack told her, as he walked past her and out the front door. "Time's all relative!"

With a snort she walked out of the house, closing the door behind her, and pulled on her sunglasses. They had to speed just a bit in order to get to the OBGYN clinic on time. Actually, they were two minutes earlier. Something that Jack took to boasting about.

"See," he told her with a grin as they pulled into their spot. "I told you we wouldn't be late."

She just rolled her eyes and got out of the truck. Jack met her as she walked around the front, snaking his arm around her waist as they walked to the front door. While she sat down he told the receptionist who they were and she told him that the doctor would be with them shortly, she was just finishing up with another patient. He nodded, then went to sit down by his fiancée. Sam sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes sleepily. For the past few nights she had gotten little sleep, firstly she had been working on her 'enigmatic doohickey' (as Jack liked to call it), still trying to figure out what could possibly allow it to change molecular structure, and allow solids to pass through it in the light, but not in the darkness. Then, to top it off, whenever she did finally get to bed (and Jack was getting good at ordering her to do so) the baby decided to start to move around, and man, was _he_ a kicker... A puncher, too- it seemed like almost every time he starting kicking it came from all four directions. Fists and feet. Wasn't she a lucky one?

At least they knew he would do well in sports...

"Ms. Carter?" the receptionist called out, looking in Sam and Jack's direction. "The doctor is ready for you," she nodded towards a door and went back to her work.

Jack and Sam got up from their seats and headed for the door, Jack opened it for her and followed her through, and a nurse met up with them. "Doctor Murray's office is two doors down on the right." she informed them, pointing down the hallway. "She's waiting for you."

The trio walked down the hallway, and the nurse led them into a room, where a woman in her late thirties was sitting at a counter, writing something down. "Doctor Murray," the nurse said, getting her attention, "your patient is here."

The two exchanged looks at the doctors name, and Jack smiled, no doubt thinking of Teal'c. Doctor Murray was short, but not very, maybe around 5'5, with auburn hair and dark hazel eyes. She smiled at the two and motioned for Sam to sit on the bed and Jack to sit in one of the extra chairs.

"So..." she looked at her paperwork, "Ms. Carter, you're three months along?"

Sam nodded, "Yes."

"Alright... are you looking to find out the baby's sex?" she questioned, putting the file down on the counter.

"We are," Sam informed her.

"Ok, then," she handed Sam a pair of scrubs, "I'm going to give you a few minutes to change and get the ultrasound machine and then we'll get started."

Dc. Murray left the room and Sam changed into the clothes quickly, then sat back on the bed. Jack got up from his seat and stood next to her, lying one hand on his stomach and running the other through her hair. "You really want to know?" he questioned, making sure she wasn't going to learn the sex of their child just because he wanted to.

She nodded, sighing as the baby responded to the weight of his father's hand with a forceful kick or punch. "I want to know, Jack," she reassured him, "it'll make things a lot easier."

The doctor walked back in and smiled at the scene before her, "Excited?" she questioned. Sam nodded and Jack just grinned. He wasn't knew to ultrasounds, they had been around when Sarah was pregnant, but they were hardly the same now. Sam, on the other hand, didn't have a clue.

Murray nodded, "What we've got here," she motioned to a cart with a computer like device on it, "is a 'Real-Time Scanner'. Which means that you'll be able to see a continuous picture of the fetus on this monitor. How it works is I'll place this transducer, or probe," she pointed towards a (computer) mouse looking object, "on your abdomen, above the uterus. Repetitive arrays of ultrasound beams will scan the fetus in thin slices and will be reflected back onto the same transducer, and that's how you'll see the image. Very high frequency waves of 3.5 to 7.0 megahertz will be used."

Doctor Murray pulled the cart up to the bed and took a container off of it, twisting off the cap. "You may feel a slight pressure on your bladder, but it shouldn't cause you any discomfort. The conducting gel that I am going to be using won't stain, but it will feel cold a wet when I apply it." She scooped out some of the green looking gel with one hand, raised Sam's shirt with the other, and then applied the conducting gel onto her stomach. Sam jumped slightly at the feeling, the doctor hadn't been lying when she said it would be cold, and looked over at her fiancé, who was still standing beside her.

As the doctor picked up the mouse-like transducer Sam reached out and took her fiancé's hand into her own, not because she was scared, but because she was excited. They were about to see their child growing inside of her. She was amazed by it and they still had yet to see the baby. The doctor was about to place the metal end of the transducer on Sam's abdomen when she stopped her by asking a question. "How exactly does this work?"

Jack sighed to himself. He knew he would get some form of technobabble on his day off.

The woman smiled, many first time mothers asked the very same thing. "That depends... do you want to technical version, or the shortened, less scientific one?"

"Well, I'm a scientist, so I think I can handle the technical one." Sam assured her, smiling nervously. Who knew that this was so... scary?

"Alright," the doctor said. "The pulsed ultrasound, because of it's high frequency, can be aimed in a specific direction and obeys the laws of geometric optics with regard to reflection, transmission and refraction." She paused, to make sure Sam understood, and when she was certain that the woman was keeping up with her continued, not even bothering to look at Jack, who she knew was probably confused already. Most were. "The wave is reflected, refracted, or absorbed, when it meets an interface of differing echogenicity. Reflected sound waves are then produced. The transducer, though emitting ultrasound in rapid pulses, acts as a receiver most of the time. The ultrasound image will be displayed on the video monitor, via what is known as a scan converter, and will be recorded on video tape.

"The transducer of a realtime scanner typically contains over 300 crystals arranged in a row where each emits and receives an ultrasound beam in rapid succession to form a sweep. The part of the abdomen under the probe is "swept" about 30 times, frames, a second and a moving picture will be formed." The doctor gave Sam a small smile, "Do you understand?"

Sam smiled, she did, for the most part. The doctor looked at Jack, who just shrugged. All he needed to know was that the mouse looking object was going to show him a picture of his child. Other than that, he could care less. "I just want to see her," he told the doctor.

"Her?" Murray questioned. "Already decided on the gender?" She once again went to place the transducer on Sam's abdomen, and this time the woman didn't question her.

"He thinks that it's a girl, I think it's a boy."

Stephanie Murray smiled, it was a normal situation to have parents differ on what they believe the gender to be. What was different, however, was the sex that the parents had chosen. Most of the time the father's want football stars an d the mother is hoping for a little ballerina. Not the other way around. She slid the transducer over Sam's gel covered skin and turned to the monitor, waiting for the image to appear. A few seconds later, it did, and the smile on her face doubled.

Which was appropriate given the situation, "Well- I have some interesting news for you two."

Sam looked at the screen, boggled. It was surprising to her how anybody could find something out of what she was seeing, it looked like blobs to her. "What is it?" she questioned eagerly. Interesting news didn't always mean a _good_ thing.

The doctor looked more closely at the screen, "You're both right."

Jack sent her a questioning look, then turned to look at Sam. "How could we be both right? Either it's a girl, or it's a boy."

Murray nodded, "It's a girl and a boy. Congratulations, you're having twins."

**XXXX**

"_Twins?"_ Daniel questioned, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. "Are you serious?"

Sam nodded, rubbing her slightly swelled stomach. "Yup. One boy and one girl. Doctor Murray says that's why I'm showing more than a normal pregnancy would... I just never picked up on it, I guess."

Jack was practically beaming, "I _knew_ I was right."

"You know," Cassie mused, "In a way you weren't right."

"What are you talking about?" Jack questioned, "I knew she was having a girl."

"True," Sam replied, understanding where Cassie was headed. "But, you also knew that I_ wasn't_ having a boy."

"Your point?"

She shook her head and leaned onto his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Nothing..."

"So, looks like you're gonna have to paint the room yellow..." Daniel supplied. "That way it fits for both of them."

Jack nodded, "We were planning on doing it in stars anyway... we'll just have to buy another crib."

Cassie, Daniel, Jack, and Sam were sitting on their back deck, watching Pandora run around the back yard. Teal'c couldn't be there, he was with Bra'tac meeting with the rebel Jaffa, but Sam was glad that at least two of them could make it. "Did you guys go to your fittings Tuesday?"

They both nodded. "Yeah," Cassie told her. "The dress is beautiful."

Sam smiled, "You picked it out."

"That's true," Cassie nodded. "So, you're going to bigger than you expected come this time next month, right? How are you going to work that out?"

"Doctor Murray told me what size I should expect to be, I'm just going to have to get my dress re-tailored. No problem."

"Did you ever figure out who you were going to have as your bridesmaids?" Cassie questioned, as far as she knew the only other person to be asked was her sister-in-law, Tracie.

"Andrea and Elizabeth, my uncles daughters... we're not _that_ close, but they're both around my age so we've kept in contact. It was better than only having one bridesmaid."

"What about you, Jack. Who is going to be your groomsmen?"

"Teal'c, Danny, Mark and Bra'tac."

Sam grinned, remembering the conversation between Bra'tac and Jack. "They're going to have to wear hats, of course, but we can work that out so that it, hopefully, doesn't look too terrible."

"Mark agreed to be in the wedding? He hasn't even met you..." Cassie looked surprised. Hadn't Pete and Mark been close friends? The best, even.

"Yeah... well, Sam m ight've had something to do with that."

Cassie looked to Sam who shrugged, "He's my brother, how could he say no?"

Good question. It's not everyday your only sibling gets married. Sure, she got engaged plenty of times, but this time she was actually going to follow through with it. That was something a brother could never miss, screw his friend. Also, his wife had a lot of say in the matter... also something Sam might have had something to do with.

"So..." Daniel asked, "twins, huh?"

"I know!" Jack exclaimed. "Strange, isn't it?"

"Well, it's not that uncommon..." he shrugged. "I just never thought you guys would have twins. That's going to be exhausting."

Didn't Jack know it! One was tiring enough, but two... there was no way he'd be able to get out of a stinky diaper now. He'd have to change one while Sam changed the other. But, he didn't mind. Twice to love and twice to look like their mother (not to mention think like her!).

Sam rubbed her stomach again, trying to ease the two out of whatever kind of spat they were having. No wonder she had always thought that the baby was kicking and punching all at the same time. It was both of them kicking, or it was both of them punching, or whatever variation that could be possible. Not to mention why the baby never seemed to sleep. While one was napping the other was beating the heck out of it's mother uterus, and vice versa. She began to hum slightly, still caressing her swollen stomach, and looked over at her fiancé who had been watching her. He smiled widely at her and she returned the favor.

They were having twins!

**XXXX**

**A/N: Yeah, yeah. I know I said that they weren't going to have twins. But I am such a pushover... Not to mention the fact that I was originally going to have Jack right (the child being a girl) but then everybody started routing for Sam, so then I couldn't make up my mind. Twins are fun though, especially the fraternal kind! And that's not just because I'm a fraternal twin...**

**I swear!**


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Seven**

**Disclaimer: We've done this before, or have I lost my memory like Jack did in the first couple of chapters?**

**A/N: Yes, identical twins are great, too! My father's side of the family actually has five sets of twins, not extending past 2nd cousins. My uncles has identical twin boys and my great uncle has identical twin girls, too. Not to mention my identical twin great-uncles, and then a pair of fraternal twin boy 2nd cousins that are about a year younger than I am. It's quite a handful and I still can't tell my identical 2nd cousins (my great-uncle's girls) apart half the time. There's more on mom's side...  
So, I'll probably have my own set of twins in about ten years :)**

**XXXX**

"Your brother does know that I'm coming along, right?" Jack asked for what seemed like millionth time to Sam. "Because, you know, I don't want to seem like an arrogant jerk, showing up uninvited."

Sam just smiled, "He knows that you're coming, Jack, and you are invited. Don't worry so much."

He sighed in response, "That's easy for you to say, Sam. You're not engaged to his best friend's ex-fiancé."

That was true enough, she guessed, her brother would have to deal with it. "But... I am engaged to the man that I love, and he knows that, so no matter what he has to respect our relationship. And you."

Jack nodded, not completely confident that her brother would react the way she claimed that he would. Mark was male, of course, and Jack knew males; he was one and understood the feeling one got when his buddy was done wrong. And, while Sam had been warranted in her actions, it didn't mean Mark had to acknowledge that if he didn't want to. He could have easily seen Pete's side of the story and left it at that. Jack hoped that her brother was a better person than that, but when it came down to it, he was a guy, and most of the time, guys were hotheaded. "How long until your father gets here?"

She glanced at her watch, "He should be coming through any minute n–"

"Incoming traveler," Davis' voice called out over the PA system, "General O'Neill and Colonel Carter to the Control Room." Sam shrugged at Jack and they got up from their table in the commissary, headed for the control room. When they got there the 'Gate kawooshed forward and Davis' glanced back at O'Neill. "It's Tok'ra IDC, sir."

"Leave the iris open," he ordered and the two of them left for the embarkation room to meet up with the man coming through. When the metal door slid open Jacob walked through the event horizon, grinning at the sight of his daughters now noticeable, slightly swollen stomach.

"Did you figure out the sex?" he questioned, giving her a hug. "Is it a girl?"

"Yup," Jack told him, an 'I was sooo right' look on his face. "It's a girl."

Sam rolled her eyes and didn't give her father the chance to gloat along with her fiancé. "One is a girl," she informed Jacob and Selmac, "the other is a boy."

"The other?" he questioned, dumb to the implication for a brief moment. "Oh! Oh! You're having twins!"

Jack nodded in reply, snaking his arm around his fiancee's waist. "But we were still right, Jake. Sam is having a girl."

"And a boy," she reminded him. "We never discussed twins so either we were both right because one is a boy and the other a girl, or we are both wrong because we only talked about one child." He slid his hand across her stomach and one of the babies kicked at it in response, causing her to smile and wince at the same time, and him to grin like an idiot.

"Well, she'll be one helluva soccer player." he observed.

"Are they moving?" Jacob questioned, the typical grandfather instincts taking over both his military persona and the Tok'ra's seriousness.

Sam nodded, "How about we get out of the 'Gate room, though. I'll let you feel them kicking later. We really need to start off for the airport if we're going to make our flight."

"You're ok to fly?"

"I'm not even three and a half months along dad, of course I'm ok to fly. I won't be completely useless for another four months.

She sighed as they headed out of the room and headed towards Jack's office. "Of course, as soon as I hit five months Jack will confine me to earth and even now I'm lucky to get to go with Daniel on a non-threatening dig..."

Jack shrugged, not at all phased by the whining tone of her voice. "I'm doing what I need to in order to make sure that you and my son and my daughter are completely safe."

Of course he was- and she knew that. It didn't mean she had to like it though. Oh no, she could complain until Jesus came back, and probably would. It wasn't that she didn't love working in her lab, but Jack had even given her limits on that. No working with things that have a tendency to blow up in her face and definitely nothing that they retrieved from the Goa'uld or other untrustworthy aliens. Sam was starting to think she would get lucky to even work on something an ali gave to them. That wasn't something that happened often, anyway, though.

"We have to stop by the house and pick up our bags before we take off," Sam informed him as Jack rummaged through his desks for Lord knew what. "I still have some of your old clothes with me, so you can pack some outfits for the weekend, instead of going dressed as some turn of the century whatever..."

Jacob grinned, he didn't think the Tok'ra's clothing was that bad. Of course, with Selmac he was biased, but still... they were kind of comfortable. He did look forward to wearing jeans and a t-shirt, though. Selmac was, too.

"So," Jacob asked when they climbed into Jack's big, black truck. "You're coming along with us Jack?"

"Yup," he replied, turning the key in the ignition.

"Does Mark know?"

"Yup."

The older man frowned. As he recalled Mark hadn't been too fond of Jack when Pete and Sam had just broken up. Of course, at that time Mark had assumed (or had been told by Pete, more probably) that Jack and Sam had been having an affair and that's why things between his sister and best friend ended. Many moths and many phone calls between the brother and sister had passed since then, so Jacob guessed that the water under the bridge was no more and Mark decided to give Jack a second chance. No doubt after a lot of pushing on his wife's side. Tracie was an extraordinary woman when it came to bossing his son around. More so than his wife had done with him. And probably more than Sam would ever do with Jack- and not only given their working relations. Tracie had Mark so completely wrapped around her finger that Jacob was almost ashamed. He probably would have been if he didn't find it so amusing.

"Well..." the retired general stated, "this weekend should be interesting."

"Yup."

**XXXX**

Their plane landed almost half an hour later than scheduled and all three had been sleeping uncomfortably when the co-pilots voice came over the intercom and informed them they had reached their destination and reminded them to put on their seat belts, turn off all electronics, and fold up their trays. Jacob was the first to wake, and since he was sitting next to Sam, she was the second. After her father woke her up Sam woke up Jack and the three went through the co-pilots orders and sat back in their seats tiredly.

Who ever said saving the world was easy?

"It'll be nice to have a weekend away from work," Jacob sighed as he leaned back against the stiff seat. They should have opted for first-class, Lord knew they all deserved it.

Sam rubbed her belly, surprised the little one's hadn't woken her earlier, and nodded. "But I doubt we'll get much rest with the Elizabeth and Joshua running around."

"How old are they now?" Jack questioned, still waking up from his nap.

"Elizabeth is almost 10 and Joshua just turned 7." Jacob answered for him. "And Josh is a bundle of energy, so don't get too playful or your knees will start to hurt."

Jack was ready to retort with a comment about the mans own knees when a though occurred to him; Selmac had taken care of that many years before. Damn. "You know what Sam, we'll let Jake hold the twins when they're fussing. That way they can't grab a hold of any hair since he doesn't seem to have any."

Jacob snorted, so what he was bald? His knees were in perfect shape. But, the man also knew that Jack's bad knees had a lot to do with his past war experiences and his battles against the Goa'uld. So there was really nothing more he could say on the matter. "I'd be honored." he said with a grin. They were his grand babies, anyway. Of course he would hold them... as long as they didn't need changing. That he would leave to their mother and father. Feeding, too... he couldn't do that.

The pilots voice broke through their conversation, informing them that they had landed and could now exit the plane. Jack was the first of the three to stand and he grabbed Sam's carry on bag, as well as his and Jacob's. Handing the older man his bag he made a point of thrusting it just a bit harder than he normally would have, in order to catch him off guard. Jacob stumbled slightly but grinned at Jack. Thank God Sam had gotten rid of that other guy. Jack was probably the only person Jake could even imagine his daughter spending the rest of her life with.

They exited the plane, Jacob going first, Sam second, and lastly Jack, who was hiding just a tad bit behind his fiancé and soon to be father in law. Neither one minded much, however, and both knew why he was doing so. Jack still wasn't convinced that Mark had gotten over the whole Pete thing, so the man wasn't taking any chances. Hiding behind an old man and a pregnant woman would just have to be good enough for the time being. Even if it did squash his ego.

"Papaw!" a young, feminine voice shrieked as soon as they entered their airport. Elizabeth, Jack assumed, since the voice was obviously not that of a little boys. Sure, younger boys had higher voices, but God he hoped his son didn't sound like that... ever. When a mass of blonde, curly hair flung itself at Jacob, Jack's assumption was confirmed. It was Elizabeth. Her 'Papaw' scooped her up into his arms, holding her close.

"I missed you Lizze." he told her, kissing her forehead. "How is school?"

She made a face, "Ok, I guess." Jacob set her down and it was the boys turn to run up to him. Although he didn't shriek and he didn't jump into the man's arms. Rather he let Jacob bend down to hug him closely, no objections added. Hey, even seven wasn't too old to receive hugs from your grandpa! Especially when you hadn't seen him since your 6th birthday.

By that time Elizabeth had found her way to her aunt and was staring in astonishment at Sam's belly. "Aunt Sam... you got fat."

Jack couldn't help it, he snickered. Elizabeth looked over at him, her eyes wide.

"Who is _he_?"

"This is Jack, Liz." Sam told her. "My fiancé. And, I'm not fat, honey. I'm pregnant."

"Oh," the girl said, a bit embarrassed by her mistake. "You're bigger than mom said you'd be."

"Yeah," a dark haired woman said, walking up to stand by Elizabeth. "Why is that?"

Jacob looked over at Sam, his eyebrows raising and a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Interrogation by Tracie wasn't such a good thing. She was a cop and it was her job to do so. "Yeah, Sam... why?"

Sam threw her father an evil look and turned back to her sister-and-law, smiling when her brother stepped up to his wife, snaking his arm around her thin waist. "Well, Tracie- that's because there's two of the little buggers in there, instead of one."

Cop or no, the woman still shrieked. Much like her daughter had only moments prior. "You're having twins!"

Sam nodded, a grin stretching across her face. "One boy and one girl."

Traice enveloped Sam in the tightest of hugs and for a moment Jack was worried. Was it ok for her to be held so tightly? He sure didn't, not since he found out she was pregnant. Jacob noticed the look and smiled at the man's concern, "How about we finish this conversation back home, huh?"

Obviously Traice agreed because she let Sam go, much to Jack's relief and turned to her father-in-law. "That's a great idea, dad."

The seven began to walk off and Sam feel into step with her fiancé, sliding her arm around his waist and smiling when he did the same to her. Mark hadn't made any comments as of far, nor had he given any dirty looks, so things were going pretty well. Better than she had expected, although she wouldn't admit it.

Liz decided that she wanted some of Jack's attention, as well, and she reached for his free hand and grabbed hold of it. Smiling when the man looked down at her. She must have gotten her looks from her father's side of the family, because Tracie's hair was one of the darkest shades of brunette he had ever seen and her eyes were bright green. Elizabeth had golden blonde hair, much like her aunts, and blue eyes that he only wished his own daughter inherited. The girl giggled and started to skip, still holding on to his hand.

So, maybe he was wrong. This weekend wouldn't be _so _bad.

**XXXX**

**A/N: So I didn't know what Mark's wife's name was, or what his children's names and ages were. If anybody does know the correct names and ages let me know so I can change it. **

**Please review!**


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Eight**

**Disclaimer: Nah, not mine. :(**

**XXXX**

The drive from the airport to Mark's house was fairly busy. The family spent the entire fifteen minutes chatting away about things that had occured since the last time all six of them were together, Josh's seventh birthday party (which had been just two weeks before), Elizabeth's ballet recital, wherein she was the star, the cases that both Tracie and Mark had worked (and solved of course, the ongoing one's they couldn't talk about), things of that nature. Then, Mark too the time to ask his father how retried life was going for him.

"I traveled to a little island the other month," Jacob told him. Which was the truth... when you ignored the fact that the little island was on another planet. "Spent some time soaking up the sun and relaxing."

Mark gave his father an incredulous look, "What island?"

"One of the Bahama's... I can't even pronounce the name. It was very beautiful."

Tracie smiled, obviously believing her father-in-law, "Did you get any pictures?"

"Yup," he informed her. "I brought them with me, I figured you'd like to see them. Who knows, maybe on my next spur of the moment trip I can take you guys along with me."

"How are you getting all this money?" Mark questioned of his father. "Certainly not from the military."

"Frequent flyer miles," Jacob replied with a shrug, "I've got hundreds of 'em."

Sam and Jack exchanged looks, whereupon Sam sighed, causing Jack to believe that this was something that happened frequently. Then again, Mark _was_ a cop, and curiosity was in his nature. So was prying. And interrogating. Also, he knew his father well enough and he knew the military well enough and he didn't buy that the man was simply soaking up the sun on some obscure island in the south Atlantic. Moreover he knew that if his father wasn't going to tell him– because he couldn't or didn't want to– then there was no way he'd find out, even with his best questioning techniques.

They pulled into the driveway of a nice one-story house about fifteen minutes after they left the airport. Liz jumped out immediately, ranting about shower her auntie and papaw her new puppy, causing Sam to frown, no doubt thinking of her own puppy, which she had been forced to leave with Daniel. Jack followed after Sam, sliding his arm around her waist. "I'm sure he's taking good care of her, Sam. Don't worry."

"Yeah," she replied, giving him an incredulous look. "Tell that to Jonas, next time you see him."

Jack smiled, out of the many fish that Jonas had left in the care of Daniel, four were still alive– barely so. But those were fish, they never lived long. "You can call Daniel and make sure he's remembered to feed her, if you think he'll forget."

Sam sighed– knowing that's probably what she would end up doing. "You know how Daniel gets when he starts working, he doesn't even remember to feed himself half the time."

A frown passed across Jack's face, that was true. "Maybe... you should call Daniel."

Jacob laughed, having listened to the conversation and knowing how Daniel got when he was working, and as far as he knew Daniel was at his daughter's place (because the last thing he wanted to do was having a 40 something pound dog running around his apartment and chewing on his artifacts) working on some ancient rubbings of some kind. He agreed with Jack– somebody should call and make sure _both_ had eaten.

"What kind of dog do you have again?" Tracie asked, having heard some of the conversation as well.

"A Husky. Her name is Pandora."

"Oh, I love Huskies. What color is she?"

"Silver." Sam supplied. "She's really beautiful, I think I have some pictures with me. What kind of dog did you guys get?"

"A Jack Russell. Her name is Daisy... Elizabeth picked it out."

"It's a very pretty name," Sam said to Liz, who had brought her dog out to the front yard where the adults were talking. "Does she know any tricks?"

Elizabeth nodded furiously and stepped back from the dog, "Daisy... come."

And Daisy did.

"Sit." The dog sat. "Up." Daisy stood on her back legs. "Dance." She twirled around, still on her hind legs. Liz looked up at her aunt happily, "Isn't she amazing?"

"She sure is," of course, Pandora knew that and much more, thanks to Jack. But, it was still very cute. "She is a very pretty dog."

The little girl beamed. Daisy sure was pretty! She gave her puppy an affectionate hug and then threw the ball she had brought out with her. Daisy rain after it, barking happily. The adults smiled at the scene and then headed up for the house, Jacob, Sam, and Jack still had to put their things away and it was past time for lunch. Joshua ran after them, watching Daisy run was pretty boring if you asked him, and he was getting hungry! He was a seven year old boy, anyway, and still growing, so he needed all the food he could get. And, he could get a lot of food.

"Come on in, Lizzie," Sam called out, using the nickname that Elizabeth had reserved for only her. Coming from anybody else it made her sound like she was Joshua's age again, she claimed, but Sam was special so it was ok for her to do so. "You want to help me unpack?"

Liz smiled, nodded, and then called out for Daisy to come inside with her. The two of them ran up the steps of the small concrete porch and followed the rest of the adults into the house. Liz claimed she would show Sam the room she would stay in, the guest room, and took off down the hallway, Sam and Jack behind her. She went into the first door on the left and Liz turned around to look at them, "This is it."

"Thank you very much, Liz." Jack said, giving the girl a genuine smile. He hadn't said much since they had gotten there, but that's because he wasn't sure how Mark was going to receive him. Sure, Sam had promised that her brother would behave, but she obviously didn't know the male race like he did. They lied... a lot. "How about we put our things up real quick, then you show us your room?"

The girl smiled, "Ok."

Jack and Sam put their things on the bed, deciding that they could always get everything situated later, before they went to bed, and followed the little girl across the hallway and through a door that said "Liz" in big, pink letters on it. When they entered the room Jack was a bit surprised, he had half expected dolls to be laying everywhere and things like "My Little Pony" or "Polly Pocket" to litter the dressers, but there was none of that. There was only one stuffed animal, a teddy bear, lying on the bed, and the rest of the room was covered in dolphins. It was like a dolphin sanctuary, he thought to himself. Not at all what you would expect from a 9 year old girl.

"Wow," he told her, looking around. The bedspread was a dark blue, with lighter colored blue sheets and pillows, and the walls were the same color as the sheets. A dolphin wind chime hung from the mirror of her bureau, various trinkets were scattered across the room on many different desks and tables, and there were a fair amount of lamps with dolphin shades. It was pretty neat. She even had a fish tank on her chest of drawers, although sadly, no dolphins inside. "Cool." he continued, kids said that right? Cool?

"She wants to be a marine biologist," Sam informed him. She had already been privy to the room, since the girl had bought most of the things for it when she was down the last time, but there was a good bit of newer items she had never seen before. A calendar hung above her study table and the wind chime hadn't been there before. All in all, however, it looked pretty much the same. "Well, come on then," she said. "Let's go see what your mother is making for lunch."

Neither one had any objections to that particular statement. Lunch was always acceptable. Even if Liz did want to show him the pictures from their vacation to Sea World, when she had gotten to sit on the whale and swim with the dolphins. That could always wait for later, anyway. They wouldn't be going anywhere.

When they got back into the living room Jacob had already dropped his things off in Mark and Tracie's. The two would be sleeping in the daughters room, since it had a full bed, and Liz and her brother would be staying in his, since he had bunk beds. Liz wasn't too happy about the arrangement, but it got her a visit from her aunt and papaw, so everything was alright. The two male adults, and Joshua, were sitting around the table, playing cards.

"What'cha playing?" Jack asked, standing behind Jacob and looking over his shoulder.

"Bullshit," Mark muttered, looking down at his hand attentively.

"Mark Lucas Carter!" Tracie called from the kitchen, "What did I say about that!"

The man sighed, "We're playing _BS_."

"Better." came his wife's reply from the kitchen.

Sam snickered, earning a look from her brother, but she just shrugged it off. "I'm going to go help Tracie in the kitchen."

"Why?" Mark asked a bit quickly. "Did we do something wrong?"

The female Carter glared at her brother and picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a (ring) napkin holder, and promptly threw it at him. It bounced off of his head and she ran into the kitchen, laughing to herself. Mark sneered good-heartedly, then went back to his cards. He picked two of them out and set them on the table, "Two queens."

"Bulls– BS." Jacob said with a grin. He had three queens in his hand.

"Sh... crap," Mark cursed under his breath as he turned the cards around. Sure enough they were a 10 and a 3. Not even close to queens.

It was the little man's turn, "One king."

Jack couldn't help but smile, along with the other adults. "Joshie," Jacob started, "the point of the game is to get rid of as many cards as you can... even if it means saying you have cards that you don't."

"But then I'd be _lying_..." the little boy informed his grandfather, as if lying was the worst thing in the world.

"I'll help him out, Jake," Jack offered, "if I can rub your head for good luck."

Jacob reached behind him to smack Jack, but the man was smarter than that and moved out of the way before he could get the chance. "Careful old man, don't get too worked up. We wouldn't want you having a heart attack on us, ya know."

Mark snickered from across the table, having watched the exchange between the two men. "Hey," Jack called, "what's so funny?"

"You're just not really the image of youth there, Jack," the man replied with a snort. "Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack grumbled, "it's not my fault both my parents had the gray hair gene." He traveled around the table and pulled a chair up next to Joshua, then allowed the boy to sit in his lap. "Alright now, little man, let's show them how this game is played, shall we?"

His soon-to-be father-in-law was the one who answered, "After we shuffle the deck, Jack. Don't think I'm dumb enough to let you play after seeing my cards."

Jack scowled, would he ever? "I know that Jake."

They shuffled the cards and then handed a new set out, Jack and Joshua went first. After the older man pointed out some cards he whispered something into Joshua's ear. The boy grinned, pulled out three cards and laid them on the table, "Three twos."

Jacob eyed his own hand, he only had one two. His son had to have one, though... right? "BS."

The two laughed and Jacob turned the cards over. "Well, shit." he cursed. There were three twos. He picked the cards up and laid another down, "One three."

"Two fours," Mark said, putting down two cards. Nobody called his bluff, although they should have, and Josh laid down his next hand.

"Two fives." It was a lie, but nobody thought to call them on it, and Jacob took his turn.

That's how the women found them fifteen minutes later, throwing down cards and hoping not to get caught in a lie. Jacob laid down three cards just as Sam walked up behind him, "Three Jacks."

Sam smirked and shook her head quietly, "Bull." Jack called out.

"Shi... oot." Jacob said, taking the entire stack of discarded cards into his hands.

"Lunch's done, guys," Tracie said, running her hand through her daughters long, curly hair. "We need the table to eat."

"Wait a few minutes," Mark said to his wife. "We're almost finished." He picked out two cards and laid them down. "Two Queens."

"Bull," Jacob said. He himself had three queens.

Mark sighed and picked the cards back up, and Jack took his next turn, laying down his last card. "One king."

Since there was nothing else to do but call his bluff, Jacob did just that. "BS."

"Ya think?"

He shrugged, there was a good chance. Jacob picked up the card and sighed, it was a king. "Alright, Jack... you win. Again."

Jack smiled down at Josh, and the two shared a high five. "I told you we would show them how to play the game."

"Your fiancé is corrupting my son," Tracie exclaimed towards Sam.

"I think your husband has already done that."

"Not to mention your father," the woman replied.

"So," Jack said, letting the seven year old slide off his legs, "what's for lunch?"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Well, you know what to do by now!**


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine

**John Doe**

**Chapter Thirty Nine**

**Disclaimer: Still not my show.**

**A/N: Yeah, "BS" is an actual card game. I'm not that good on giving explanations so the best I can say is "google" it.**

**XXXX**

"But mommy!" Joshua complained as his mother picked him up from the couch. "I'm not tired."

Tracie snorted, cuddling her son close. He responded by wrapping his arms around her neck and resting his cheek on her shoulder. Sure he wasn't tired... he was just resting his eyes. "It's way past your bedtime, mister," she informed him, carrying him off to his bedroom. "You are going to sleep."

"Mommy..." he whined, his head still resting on her shoulder. "Please?"

She shook her head adamantly, "Time for bed, Joshua Carter." Then Tracie disappeared into his bedroom, emerging a few minutes later sans one son. Since Elizabeth had already gone to bed an hour prior she didn't have to worry about her daughter arguing to stay up later, so she joined the other adults in the dining room, where they were once again playing BS. Well, Mark and Sam were playing... Jacob and Jack were cheating.

"Bullshit!" Sam called out, smirking at her brother, who scowled in response. Tracie had to sigh, her husband was the worst liar there was.

Jacob's turn came around and he laid down two cards, "Two tens."

Jack glanced around suspiciously, trying to peak at Sam's cards, though she saw him doing so and hid hers from his view. He scowled, then tried to do the same with Mark's cards. "...I have two tens..." he whispered, as if by doing so Jacob wouldn't hear him.

"Bullshit!" Mark shouted, giving Jacob a smug look.

"You cheated," Jacob said. "It doesn't count if you cheat."

"Oh whatever, Jake," Jack said with a smile, "you've been cheating this whole time."

The man looked at Jack with a scowl, it seemed like all the men were doing so lately. "So have you."

"Have not," he countered, much like a five year old would.

"Have too," Jacob said.

Tracie and Sam shared a look, each of them smiling. Men... they never grow up. "How about we play something different?" Sam offered. Bullshit was getting a bit old, as it were.

Mark glanced at his watch and sighed, "Maybe tomorrow... it's already almost midnight."

She shrugged, "Sounds good to me. The little ones are getting a bit anxious, I think it's time for them to go to bed, too."

"Really?" Mark questioned, "They kicking?"

"I think they're having a fight," she said with a grin. "You wanna feel?"

Like any first-time uncle would pass the opportunity to feel his niece and nephew throwing a couple of punches at each other, or at their mother. Mark nodded and got out of his chair, leaving the two general's to clean the cards mess, and walked across the table to his sister's chair. He gave her a questioning look and she nodded, letting him know it was ok for him to feel. With a smile he placed his hand over her slightly swollen stomach, and not even five seconds later he flinched when a foot or a fist made it's presence known. Sam winced and glanced at her fiancé, this was his fault... she certainly hadn't done this to her mother.

"Wow," he breathed, "that's... amazing."

"Thank you," Jack said with a grin. "Thank you very much."

Sam rolled her eyes at him and looked back at her brother, "Ignore him."

The man nodded, "That won't be a problem."

From the good-natured look on his face she was sure he was only joking, so she grinned along with him. Jack scowled, only half-serious, and looked over at Jacob. "What did I do?"

He shrugged, "Opened your big mouth?"

Well... ok, that was probably it. "Yeah... so?"

Mark moved his hand slightly to the left, and as if on cue, another foot or fist made contact. He didn't flinch that time, having expected the movement, but Sam still winced. "Oh... I think that's enough for tonight. They're having too much fun..."

Her brother nodded, not knowing the pain she was in, but having an idea from when his wife had been pregnant. "Well, you're stuff is already in the guest bed, so whenever you want to go to sleep... go right ahead."

"I think I'm going to head off to bed, too." Jacob announced, getting up from his chair. "I'll see you kids in the morning."

As he headed down the hallway Tracie decided that she, too, was getting tired. "You know what... I think I'm going to check on the kids then hit the sack, as well." She kissed her husband goodnight and headed after her father-in-law, veering off into Joshua's room, where the kids were sleeping.

"You coming Sam?" Jack asked, as he got out of his chair.

She shook her head, "Go ahead, I'll be there in a few minutes... I'm going to help Mark clean up out here."

The look on her brother's face plainly said he hadn't planned on cleaning up, but he sighed and nodded at his sister. Obviously she wanted to talk or something, so... he wasn't going to upset a pregnant woman, as it were. Jack nodded and headed down the hallway, turning into the guest bedroom where they would be sleeping for the weekend.

When she was sure he was out of ear shot she turned to her brother with a questioning look, "Why are you being so nice?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" He questioned, "Was there any doubt that I wouldn't be?"

"Oh yeah," she informed him, "and not just from me. Jack and Dad were doubtful, too." Not to mention Selmak.

He sighed and began to pick up the discarded cards, "Why? Because of Pete?" When Sam didn't reply he figured he was dead on the money, "Listen, Sam... you are my sister, first and foremost. Pete is my friend, yeah, but I don't condone the way he acted. He was jealous and lost his head, and I'm not trying to defend him, but that's the way he was taught... Tracie and I were, as well. But, that doesn't matter– I pushed you into a relationship with him, and I shouldn't have. If you had just told me that you had feelings for Jack before I set the date up, I wouldn't have tried so hard."

"I wasn't allowed to have feelings for him, Mark– that's why I went out with Pete in the first place. I thought... maybe, by some miracle, I could forget about Jack." It was her turn to sigh and she grabbed the cups from off the table, "I guess I led him on by staying with him... well, I know I did. I shouldn't have, but I was being selfish. None of it was your fault and none of it was Jack's fault. Pete and I just... I baited him with suspicious behavior and he swallowed it whole, then came back for more. It was just as much my fault as it was his."

"So, why were you worried that I would be mean?"

She set the dishes into the sink and turned to look at him, "Because, you haven't been exactly thrilled about my engagement to Jack, ya know?"

"You're my kid sister, Sam... I wasn't thrilled about Jonas," a look of disgust past over his face when saying the name of her first fiancé, "... or Pete, either."

Well, that was true. But he had been a bit more outspoke with Jack than he had with Pete. Then again, he had pretty much told her if she married Jonas he wouldn't be there... and Pete was already his best friend. "This time it's right," she assured him. "This time I've found somebody perfect for me in every way, someone who I love completely, without room for doubt." She walked back into the dining room and sat down in the chair next to him, "You think you can be happy for me?"

Mark scrunched his face up, then smiled at her, "I guess so."

"And you'll continue to be civilized to Jack?" she asked.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." He barked, giving her a sloppy salute.

"That's Colonel to you, Civilian."

Both turned to see Jack standing in the doorway to the dining room, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "What are you doing, Jack?" Sam questioned, wondering how much of the conversation he had listened to.

"I am coming to save my fiancé from her brother..." he smiled, "and save myself from loneliness."

Sam smiled and turned to look at her brother, "Thank's Mark."

"Don't mention it... go get some sleep."

She wasn't going to argue with that statement. Sam kissed her brother on the cheek then headed off down the hallway, Jack right behind her, headed into the guest room. They climbed into bed and Sam turned to face him, a smile on her face, "Just how much of that conversation did you listen to, Jack?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he claimed, feigning innocence. But Sam knew him better.

"Jack..."

"You're too good for me," he said, "you know that?"

"I am no better than you are, Jack," she informed him, "you're just too good a person to admit it."

He shook his head, which she didn't see in the darkness, rather heard. "You are the one that's too good to admit how great you are. And that just makes you so much better."

"Neither of us is going to give, you know." she said with a sigh. "This conversation could go on all night..."

Jack chuckled and pulled her closer to him, "How about we call it even, for the night, and get some rest?"

"Sounds good to me," she cuddled close to him, hiding her face in his shirt, and fell asleep within minutes.

**XXXX**

"Auntie Sam!" a small, but shrill, voice called from the foot of the bed. "Wake up!"

Sam groaned and buried her face further into her fiance's shirt, hoping that she was just having a dream, and the noise would stop any moment. No such luck, a few seconds later the bed tilted a bit, and somebody began to crawl over it, towards her. She could hear Jack laughing as he wrapped his arms tighter around her, shielding her from way too energetic girl. Elizabeth wasn't fazed by this, however, and kept urging her aunt to wake.

"Aunt Sam!" the girl continued, "it's already 9 o'clock."

Only nine! This was her vacation, she should be sleeping until noon, not nine. "Go wake up Papaw..." she groaned, hiding in the warmth of her finace's arms.

"He's already awake," she whined.

"What about your parents?"

"Awake."

She peeked up at her fiancé, "Jack?"

"He's awake, too, silly."

"Fine," she said, "I'm awake..."

"Good," the girl was pratically beaming, but Sam couldn't see that, since she still had her face hidden in Jack's t-shirt. "It's breakfast time."

"Breakfast?" the man asked, that was a brilliant word. "What kind of breakfast?"

"Pancakes and bacon and eggs."

"You hear that Sam," he said, looking down at her. "Pancakes and bacon and eggs."

Well... she was kind of hungry, and eating for three! "Fine... you have to let me up first, though."

Jack laughed, realizing he was still holding on to her, then let her out of his arms. "Come on, Liz, breakfast won't wait forever."

The two ran off out the bedroom as Sam pulled herself out of the bed. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she headed out the door after them, and made her way into the hallway where she was immediately greeted by the smell of bacon and maple syrup. Ok, so maybe being awake at 0900 wasn't such a bad thing... especially when Tracie was cooking breakfast.

"Morning sleepyhead," her father greeted when she entered the dining room. "Nice of you to join the land of the living."

"It's still early," she informed him. "Why are you up?"

He pointed to the little boy sitting next to him, "He was in my room at 7, so don't complain about 9."

She sighed, at least Joshua hadn't waken her up when he woke up his grandfather. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Yeah, come on and get it," Tracie called from the conjoining kitchen. "Do you want orange juice, Sam?"

"I'll get it, Tracie–"

"You get your plate," the woman told her, "I'll get your drink. Orange Juice then?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Sam started on her plate of food, getting two pancakes, two pieces of bacon, and a good bit of eggs. She returned to the dining room and sat down next to her brother, who already had a plate in front of him, and was digging in. He glanced over at her plate and frowned.

"Shouldn't you be eating more than that?" he questioned. "With two of them in there?"

"This is fine, thank you very much," she defended herself. "Don't worry."

He shrugged, and Jack sat down next to her. "You know... I think he might be right. That doesn't look like much."

"I figured you would eat enough for all four of us," she told him with a smile. "And from the looks of it, you probably will."

His plate was full, three pancakes, four pieces of bacon, and about double the eggs that she had. "It doesn't work that way, Sam... sorry."

"Fine, I'll get some more when I'm done with this plate."

Both men grinned in triumph.

"...But, you two have to do the dishes."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Sorry the update took longer than normal... I have family in town so I've been spending time with them. Anyway, let me know what'cha think.**


	40. Chapter Forty

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty**

**Disclaimer: Nah, not mine.**

**A/N: Wow, when I started this story I didn't expect to make it to 40 chapters and still have more to go (which was made obvious by me saying that it would probably be over soon around chapter 25!) This story is now 15 chapters longer than my previously longest story... I can't believe it's been going for so long!**

**XXXX**

Sam sighed as her bare feet sunk into the warm sand, missing the feeling immensely. The best thing about having a brother who lived in California, right along the coast line, was the easy access to the beach. They had only driven two minutes before Mark parked on the side of the road, telling everybody to get out, from here on out they would be walking. The shore was already visible, so Sam knew it wouldn't be much walking, and she grabbed her bag and beach towel and climbing out of the Suburban.

They had walked for less than a minute before the road turned into sand, whereupon Sam slipped off her flip-flops and walked bare-footed across the beach, headed for a less crowded area close to the water. While the guys were setting up the chairs and umbrellas the girls pulled off the clothing that was over their bathing suits, and immediately headed for the ocean. Lizzie was wearing a bright pink one-piece, her mother was wearing a black one-piece, and Sam was wearing a blue maternity bathing suit which was a tankini, and just slightly showed the bulge of her stomach.

She stepped just slightly into the ocean, allowing the water to lap around her ankles for a moment before she went further into the water. When she was as far into the water so that it came to her knees, a pair of strong, comforting arms wrapped around her stomach and the lips that belonged to them began to lightly press against her neck, causing her to shiver. "Jack," she groaned, "don't..." A smile appeared on her face as she imagined him pouting, so to save herself from his infamous puppy-dog eyes. There was no resisting when it came to those, at least for her, so her best defense was to steer clear.

"But Saaammm..." he wined, kissing her neck once more, slightly higher than the previous times, "why?"

"Because we're in a public place, that's why," she finally forced herself to turn around, bracing herself for the puppy dog eyes. "Not to mention the fact that my brother and father are currently watching you like a hawk, scowling something fierce."

"Really?" Jack questioned, turning around to look at the shore. As he was facing the opposite way Sam dashed off, towards her sister-in-law, and away from any chance of being drawn in by the puppy dog eyes. When Jack realized that she had tricked him (although, he was fairly sure he saw Mark and Jake staring at him looking mildly protective) he chased after her. "No fair, you cheated!"

"All's fair in love and war," she called over her shoulder as she entered the waist-deep water where Traice was standing.

"Don't go any further into the water Sam," he asked, standing next to her and pulling her into an embrace once more, "I don't like you being this far out."

"Jack, I'm not a china doll, I won't break..." she reminded him, a bit annoyed that it was more than three months and everybody was _still _treating her as if she was fragile cargo, but then again, the more time that passed and the more developed the babies got, the more protective they would be. She would just have to start to get used to it– or at the very least, learn to ignore it. "But, if it worries you that much, I will go no further."

"Good," he replied, before kissing her once again on the neck. Sam gave up protesting, and allowed him to display his affection, and really, why would she argue? One of the babies responded to the feel of their fathers hand above them on their mothers stomach, kicking or punching hard against the weight. "Ouch..." Jack said, noticing as Sam winced. "That bad?"

She shook her head, rubbing the spot where the growing baby had made it's presence even more known than before, "They're just excited to be at the beach..."

Jack was sure that it hurt worse than she was letting on, but she obviously wanted to have her chance to soak up the sun go uninterrupted, and this was the last and only full day she had to spend with her brother. The three would be leaving the next afternoon, and while that still gave her until 1900 hours to spend time with her family, she would still be using some of the time to get ready to leave and waiting at the airport. Besides, the weather was beautiful and the breeze was perfect, nobody in their right mind would want to leave the beach that day for anything.

After they waded in the water for nearly fifteen minutes Sam, Jack, Tracie and Lizzie headed back to the shore where Mark, Jacob, and Josh were laying. Sam and Jack laid out on their extra large beach towel, Sam on her back and Jack on his stomach, looking over at her and watching her sunbathe. "Has the baby stopped kicking?" he questioned, resting his hand on her swollen stomach for a brief second.

"Yeah, at least for now..." she sighed, peaking at him through one barely open eye. "Don't jinx me, alright?"

He grinned, "I'll do my best."

Sam smiled at him, nodding slightly before going back to her tanning. Not long later she turned around to lay on her stomach, resting her cheek on the blanket and looking over at her fiancé, "I was thinking a light blue for the bridesmaids dresses, what do you think?"

Jack just shrugged his shoulders and had the grace to not look completely lost, "They're your bridesmaids."

"Ooh..." Tracie said, from Jack's right, "we're talking about the wedding, are we?"

"Jack and I were, yes," Sam said with a grin, "would you like to join the conversation?"

"I would," she informed her. "What about the bridesmaids?"

"Light blue for the dresses?" Sam questioned.

"What kind of light blue... like sky blue?"

"Yeah."

"I like," Tracie assured her. "What kind of dresses are they going to be, have you decided yet?"

"They're just regular spaghetti strapped, flowing dresses. You know, the top is tight and then the train spreads out kind of. I have a picture, somewhere in my bag... I'll show you when we get back to the house. The dress in the picture is light green though, and I will not have green in my wedding."

"I think green would be very nice." Jack informed her.

"Lime?"

He shrugged.

"Which is exactly why I'm doing most of the planning," she said with a grin. "You are a hopeless cause."

"All men are, Sam," Tracie said solemnly, "you learn to get used to it."

"Really?" she asked, "how long does that take?"

"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out," the woman replied, laughing. "I still have to remind myself that Mark is male, and therefore extremely flawed, every now and then."

"Hey, why am I in this conversation?" Mark called from his seat by his father, "I've been over here minding my own business–"

"And listening to us talking," Sam added.

"– and all of a sudden, it's lets beat up on the male species... like you would be anywhere without us."

"True, if it wasn't for men, we'd go extinct– but, other than that," Sam looked over at Tracie, who winked at her, "I do admit that males are fun to look at, as well."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better. Men are good for reproducing and eye-candy."

"Exactly my point."

Sam laughed and reached out to take her fiance's hand, "Don't worry Jack, you're more than eye candy to me."

"How much more?" he questioned, a smiling tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Oh, I don't know," she replied, leaning over and brushing her lips across his, "much, much more..."

"And that would be approximately, what?"

"Well, for one... you're good for a laugh. You keep me warm at night and rub my feet sometimes, if I asked nicely enough." She grinned, "Some other things that I won't mention at the moment... but are very, very worth mentioning. Not to mention the fact that you're really good at talking your way out of a speeding ticket."

Jack snorted, ok... so he had gotten out of a ticket with her in the car once, that was a rare occasion, though. Most of the time he didn't get pulled over... "Anything else?"

She kissed him once again, "Oh, I don't know... I'm sure I can think of some thing, but I'm not sure anybody else would appreciate them."

A grin spread across his face, "I would, though."

Sam rolled her eyes, "I'm going to finish tanning," and with that she laid back down and relaxed under the warmth of the sun.

**XXXX**

They didn't leave the beach until it was almost the afternoon, at around 1500 hours. When they got back to Mark's house they either changed or showered, and by the time 1700 rolled around they piled back into the Suburban and headed for dinner at Red Lobster. Sam, who had never really been one for seafood, ended up getting a simple salad, while Jack got shrimp scampi and everyone else, other than Lizzie, got either shrimp or some sort of fish.

It was nearly 1945 when they got back to the house, and while it was still fairly early the younger ones had to get ready for bed soon and there would be no point in going out for half an hour before they had to be back home. So, they decided that they would order a movie off of Pay-Per-View. When the kids had been put to bed at 2030 the adults settled around the living room, after popping some pop corn, and began the movie, which ended up being some kind of cop drama.

Half way through the flick Sam began to nod off. With the twins taking up most of her energy she was starting to get tired earlier, and although she really didn't have any real reason to stay awake, she would have liked to spend some extra time with her brother. However, exhaustion was quickly taking over and when she could no longer keep her eyes open she leaned against ack and allowed sleep to come.

When she woke up next it was almost 2300 hours, and Jack was looking down at her with an amused grin, "Welcome back to the land of the living... you ready to head off to bed?"

Oh, was she ever. Sam nodded sleepily and Jack picked her up off of the couch, grunting at the strain it put on his weak knees. "Jack," she protested, "I can walk."

"And I can carry you."

"Your knees..."

"Will be just fine. It's only a few steps down the hallway."

She sighed and allowed him to carry her into the room, whereupon he laid her in the bed and tucked her in, "I'm going to go take a shower, and then I'll be back. Don't wait up for me if you're tired, alright?"

Sam frowned, "I won't."

"Sam..." she normally tried to stay awake until she could fall asleep cuddled next to him, and she looked too tired right now for her to do so tonight. "Promise me."

"I promise."

He leaned over and kissed her briefly, "I love you."

As he was pulling away she grabbed him and brought him back, crushing her lips to his in a more passionate embrace. "I love you, too," she sighed when she finally let him go. "Don't be too long."

Like hell he would. Now he was going to have to take an extremely cold shower. You're in your future brother-in-law's house, Jack... stop thinking those thoughts. There are children right across the hallway. Not to mention Jacob at the end of it. Cold shower... Shower, Sam in the shower... with him. Naked.

Aw, shit. Brother-in-law, children, father-in-law... all of them on the same hallway Jack.

She had done that on purpose, he decided as he got into the shower, flinching as the cold water hit his skin. A cold shower would mean he would take less time in the bathroom, the sooner he got out from under the water, the sooner he regained some heat. Of course she wasn't planning on doing anything... strenuous, she was tired and not to mention the fact that her father and brother were only a few feet away. Oh yeah, her kissing him like that had been strictly a strategy. Damn her and her brilliant mind. That wasn't nice.

When he climbed back into the bed, his hair damp from the shower, still slightly chilled, he told her so. "That was a dirty thing to do."

"What?" she questioned, feigning innocence. "Taking a shower?"

"Think a few seconds before that."

It was dark in the room but he plainly saw her grinning, "I have no clue what you are talking about."

"Uh huh," he replied, kissing her briefly. "You've got to make it up to me, as soon as we get home."

"Oh, I think I can do that." she replied, kissing him back. "Goodnight, Jack."

"Night Sam," he placed his hand on her stomach, "night kids... be good for your mother, alright? She's tired."

No response. No kicks, no punches, nothing. Sam didn't complain, the less movement at that time of night the better, as far as she was concerned. "Yeah, you hear that... your daddy, _The _General, said be nice."

"Exactly, Colonel. _The _General." He laughed and pulled her to him, allowing her to cuddle up close. "Sweet dreams."

"Oh," she told him with a devious grin that he had to strain to see in the darkness, "I hope not."


	41. Chapter Forty One

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty One**

**Disclaimer: I think I'm just going to stop doing this... you guys all know by now.**

**A/N: Oh no, I'm not done yet! Trust me, I'll let you know when the story is over. Either it will say so in the summary or I'll write 'The End' down at the end, and even then things are not set into stone. I do epilogues a lot... and although I've never had a sequel to a long-term story, who knows?**

**XXXX**

"_Flight 32 to Colorado Springs now boarding."_

Sam sighed and stood up from her uncomfortable plastic airport chair. Her brother stood up as well and they smiled sadly at each other before Mark pulled his sister into a firm hug, "I'll miss you sis," he told her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"It's only going to be about a month, Mark..." she reminded him with a soft chuckle, not yet letting him go. "I think you'll manage without me."

He laughed and finally allowed her out of the embrace, "It was good to see you, Sam."

She nodded with a smile and kissed him lightly on the cheek, before turning around and picking up her nephew, who was still fairly light for his age. "Are you going to be a good boy for mommy and daddy?"

Joshua nodded furiously, "Of course!"

"Good," she kissed him on the forehead and set him down, before kneeling in front of her niece, who was older and too big to be picked up. "I'll see you next month, Lizzie."

"And I get to be a flower girl?"

A smile spread across her face, "Yeah, you get to be _the_ flower girl."

Elizabeth grinned and hugged her aunt, and when Sam stood back up the young girl walked over to Jack and held up her arms. Obviously, she was too big to be picked up by Sam, or any other woman for that matter, but Jack was perfectly fine. He smiled and picked her up, grimacing as his knees protested the movement. Sam couldn't make out what they were saying, but she didn't care, it looked too darn cute. She was hardly more than three months pregnant and already she couldn't wait until her children were older.

A few moments later Jack was forced to put her down, old bones and such. The nine year old didn't show sings of being disappointed and went directly to her grandfather, hugging him tightly, although she didn't ask to be held, although Jacob was in a much better position to do so than Jack, having Selmac with him. The little girl didn't know this, however, and her father had told her that her grandpa was in no condition to be holding her or anybody else.

After saying their last goodbyes for the time being; Jack, Sam, and Jacob boarded the plane and took their seats, Jack giving up the window to Jacob (Selmac really, Jacob could have cared less to look out the thing) so that he could sit next to Sam. "See, Jack," Sam pointed out, then looked at her father, "you too dad. Mark wasn't completely horrible this weekend. In fact, he was refreshingly nice and careful. He wants me to be happy so he's behaving."

"That makes me feel a lot better," Jack said with a sigh. "So he doesn't like me, but he's just not going to be vocal about it?"

"He likes you Jack," she assured him. "It's just going to take some time for him to like the fact that you are going to be my husband and the father of my children."

"I'm already the father of your children."

"You know what I mean."

He grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "I'm not worried any more Sam. I had fun this weekend."

She smiled warmly and took hold of his hand, waiting for the plane to take off so she could get some rest. Three months into her pregnancy and she was already starting to feel tired more often. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she was carrying twins, that had to take more out of the mother than just a single child would. Understanding that she was exhausted he held onto her hand comfortingly, running his thumb over her soft skin. As the plane lurched forward, she simply closed her eyes, fighting off the nausea the sudden movement caused, and held on to his hand. Within moments after the ride turned smooth she was sleeping, her head resting on his shoulder.

**XXXX**

_A week later_

"Jack have you seen the invitation list?" Sam yelled towards the living room as she searched through the drawers in the kitchen.

"It's on the table!" he yelled back, too busy with his own planning to get up and help her search. Not that she needed it after that point, however, because as soon as he had answered she laid eyes on the piece of paper she had been desperately looking for. Sitting down at the table she grabbed the box of invitations, "Aren't you going to help me with this Jack?" she questioned, turning to face the kitchen door.

"I'll be in there in just a second," he called out. "I've got to finish this order form."

Ah, the tux thing. They had gotten tuxes for everybody, sans Teal'c. The man was extremely difficult to find one for, and they eventually had to order from Big & Tall. It would take at least four days for it to be shipped to Colorado Springs and he had to finish the paperwork for it first. And Jack hated paperwork. But for Teal'c he would do anything.

A few minutes later he came into the kitchen and sat down next to her at the table, "I really don't have the best writing..."

"I know," she told him with a smile. "You're not writing anything, Jack. I am. I just wanted you in here with me."

He grinned, "If everyone at the base only knew how big a sap you were..."

"How would they find out?" she questioned, her eyebrow climbing up her forehead in true Teal'c fashion. "_You're_ not going to tell them and if anybody does, I can just blame the hormones. I've got a lot of them right now, you know?" She shrugged, "Plus, you're just as big a sap, if not bigger, than I am. I wonder what Walter would think if he knew _The General_ can't even let his fiancé go waist-deep into the ocean because he's worried about her."

Jack scowled half-seriously and picked up a card, looking at it. "It's not very decorated," he observed. True enough, the front simply had wedding bells on it, and the inside had the "You are invited to the wedding of General Jack O'Neill and Colonel Samantha Carter", followed by the date and times and RSVP.

"You picked it out," she reminded him with a smile. "I like them, though. Complex isn't always a good thing, you know."

She turned back to her invitation writing, "We haven't decided where we're going for our honeymoon."

"Somewhere warm... with no trees."

Sam grinned, "Hawaii, Bahamas, Tahiti?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Well, it would probably be best to just go to Hawaii, the tickets would be much cheaper."

"Hawaii sounds good. What part?"

"Honolulu..."

"...Right..."

A bubble of laughter escaped her throat and she leaned over the table and kissed him briefly, "God I love you so much."

He smiled, "I still cannot fathom why."

"I'm a bit baffled by it myself," she joked with a grin. "Seriously though, Jack... I don't think I have ever been happier before."

"Honestly, neither have I."

Their sentimental moment was broken by a wince appearing on Sam's face. He knew immediately what it was, having seen it for many weeks, one– or both– of the babies was kicking. "Are you alright?" he questioned, getting out of his chair and going over to hers. "Do you want to go lay down or something?"

She nodded, holding on to her stomach. "Yeah... I think maybe I should for a few minutes. Just on the couch, though."

"Alright," he helped her out of the chair and into the living room where she laid down on the couch, once again wincing in pain. "Do you want anything?" he questioned, laying his hand on her stomach gently. "Something to drink or... I don't know, anything?"

Sam shook her head, "No, they'll stop soon enough."

He sighed, and gentle ran his hand along her stomach, and she smiled briefly. "Does this help?"

Another nod, "Very much so. Thanks."

"No problem," he grinned, then looked down at her stomach. "You guys think you can give mom a break for a while? You'll have plenty of time to torment her when out of the womb. Until then, she's the one who feeds you and unless you want nothing but salad for the next 5 months or so, I'd be nice."

Sam laughed, "It's not like I'm going to be eating pizza if they calm down."

He shrugged, "So..."

"I wouldn't only eat salad."

"I know."

"Maybe sandwiches, too."

A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, "I figured as much."

Another sigh escaped her lips and she leaned against the pillows of the couch, her eyes closing for a moment. Jack continued to rub her stomach until her breathing evened out, a sure sign that she had fallen asleep. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead briefly, before returning to the kitchen to work on the wedding plans some more. She needed her rest, after having spent the entire week slaving over some new doohickey in her office. As far as he knew, she had only slept when he physically forced her into her quarters or home. And well, when they were at home they didn't _sleep_ much.

Almost two hours later she walked back into the kitchen, yawning and running her hands through her messy hair. "How long have I been asleep?" she questioned, taking her original seat at the table and picking up the card she had been working on when the kids had started acting up.

"About two hours," he replied, finishing his paperwork and looking at her with a smile. "Did they finally stop?"

"Must have," she observed, laying her hand on her stomach. "I think they're finally asleep."

"It's kind of late..."

"It's 2200."

"That's late." she defended herself with a smile.

"Yeah... sure."

"Aren't old people supposed to go to bed at like 9?" she questioned.

"Some of them might..."

"Then isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Hey, you're just making fun of yourself there, I'm your fiancé. You're in love with a old person."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good answer."

She rolled her eyes and picked out another card, "How many people are on our guest list?"

"200 I think."

"Really?" she questioned in surprise, looking at her stack of maybe twenty cards. "How many of them don't live on earth and ergo won't require a card?"

"About thirty."

She scowled and checked off the next name on her list, "How many of them are Tok'ra?"

"...Just dad I think..."

Sam smiled, that didn't really surprise her. "Well... there's a lot of Jaffa. And then Jonas and some others from Kelowna. Not to mention the many different human or humanoid cultures we've come in contact with..."

"Not that many can make it to the wedding Sam. They have lives on their planets... Earth isn't the center of the galaxy, you know."

With a roll of her eyes she picked out the next card, which was to be addressed to Mark. "So... we didn't invite Anise then, huh?"

"Not unless you want her to come."

An evil grin spread across her face. Sure, the woman was an Ali, but that didn't mean Sam had to like her. She (Freya really) had made a pass at Jack, and although she hadn't been his fiancé– or even his girlfriend– at the time, it still got to her. "We could always sit her next to Daniel..."

Jack laughed, "It's up to you, Sam."

She shrugged, "Means one more gift."

"I wonder what the Tok'ra would give us," he mused. "Maybe we can grow our own network of crystal tunnels under the house and send the kids down there when the older to play..."

Sam gave him a curious look, "And why would we do that?"

"Oh... I don't know... they might want a little brother or sister at some point."

"That's what Cassie, Daniel, and Teal'c are for."

"...True..."

"It was a cool idea though."

She shook her head, "Those tunnels could be dangerous."

"Hey, with you as a mother they're gonna be the smartest kids in the world. Add in my looks and they're gonna be pretty much perfect."

"Sure they are," Sam said sarcastically.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Of course not."

He smiled, "Good."

She coughed and under her breath muttered, "Grandpa."

"What?"

Sam looked up at him, putting her best innocent face on, "Huh?"

"You said something."

"I said 'huh'."

"Before that."

"Of course not?"

"After that."

Sam shook her head, "I didn't say anything, dear."

"Yeah... sure."

Sam laid her hand on his thigh, "You are by far the sexiest forty nine year old I have ever met."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh?"

"Wanna prove it?"

A knowing smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she gave up the invitation writing, "Come on, old man. It's time for you to go to bed." She stood up from the table and headed off down the hallway, Jack not far behind.


	42. Chapter Forty Two

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty One**

**  
Authors Note: In my last chapter, where I used ergo, I wasn't talking about the alien Urgo. "Ergo" (pronounced like 'air-go') is just another way of saying something like therefore, so the context in which I used it was correct.**

**XXXX**

Sam wove through the hallways of the SGC sleepily, headed for her fiancé's office in order to force him to head home. It was odd, really-- it was normally Jack who had to tell her it was time to go home '_Get a life'_ as he had lovingly put it previously. Now that she had one, it was he whom liked to stay well after hours, and she had begun to figure out why he had always been so frustrated with her before. It wasn't fun staying so late when you didn't have to.

After knocking lightly on his door she paused for a brief moment, then entered without waiting for his reply. He almost got up to argue with whoever was coming in without approval, but then saw that it was her and sat back down in his chair, "What can I do for you, Carter?"

She sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk, "For starters... you can take me home." His eyebrow raised in a Teal'c-like fashion and she grinned broadly, "The rest is up to you..." she continued, the grin turning suggesting. "You're _the General_, anyway."

Jack grinned at the nick-name she had recently picked-up, "You tired?"

This time it was her eyebrow that crooked, and she shook her head, smiling deviously, "Not in the slightest."

With a sigh he looked down at the paperwork that cluttered his desk, "I guess I can finish this in the morning..." he looked up at her and smiled. "Youngin's like you need all the sleep they can get, anyway."

Sam chuckled lightly, he had finally figured out a way to counter her old-jokes, although him calling her young was hardly something that would bother her. Especially when she, herself, was nearing the big 4-0. She smiled, getting up from her seat as he did the same, then heading for the door, pausing briefly to allow him to catch up.

They headed for the surface together, Sam slipping her hand into his and intertwining their fingers as they walked. A few passer-bys watched with interest, but their relationship had pretty much become old news. Now, her pregnancy was still considered new, and every now and then she would hear whispers about her slightly larger than normal bulge and what it meant. Few people knew that she was actually carrying twins, she figured that if they cared that much, they would ask, and unless they did, she wasn't going to share her business with the entire mountain.

He helped her into the truck, like he always did, and she found only slightly annoyed by this. It had been going on for over three months now, ever since she found out she was pregnant. Jack had become extremely cautious of her, making sure she ate every morning, not letting her drive when it wasn't necessary, and limiting her on her 'gate travel. In a little over a month he wouldn't even be letter her go through anymore, which, he could do, since he **was** _The General. _And because _The General_ was her CO first and foremost, she could do nothing about it.

But, then again, the CO was also her fiancé, and she could talk him into almost anything when they were a safe distance away from the base. Actually, she could talk him into a great deal of things while they were still underneath Cheyenne Mountain, but it was limited then, when they weren't around the complex, he was liken to putty in her hands. Oh yeah, she _so_ had him wrapped. And he knew it, for the most part.

The drive home was relatively silent, they talked for a few minutes about how their days went, which neither did much of anything. Sam had, of course, worked on some alien doohickey and Jack had been swarmed with paperwork and briefings. Nothing new in Stargate land. Not that that was a bad thing. Nothing new meant nothing bad, and nothing earth-threatening. That was a _good_ thing.

As he pulled into the driveway Sam was itching to get out of the truck. Since they had gotten back from her brother's house she had been spending extra time with Pandora, having felt bad about leaving her with Daniel (who, had actually forgotten to feed her once... not to mention forgetting to eat, himself) for so long. As far as she was concerned, the man should never be allowed near an animal. He was just too absent minded.

She hurried into the house and let Pandora in from the backyard, kneeling down to give her an affectionate hug. Jack watched from the living room, amused and slightly jealous of the attention the dog was getting. He was used to it though, Pandora was Sam's baby, and she always would be-- even after the twins came. Of course, they would take priority then, but Pandora would always be high on Sam's list of favorites. Right after Jack, who would undoubtedly be pushed down two notches by his daughter and son. Another thing he didn't mind. As long as the only ones above him were his children, it was all good.

"Hey," he called from where he stood after a minute or so of watching her cuddle the dog. "I thought tonight was up to me... and what I had in mind didn't exactly include you spoiling that mutt."

Pandora looked over at him and barked happily, as if she knew he had been talking about her, joking more like it. Jack in no way thought of the dog as a mutt, and he loved her nearly as much as Sam did. Although, the dog clearly loved Sam more than she loved him... but he wasn't surprised by that, either. Sam herself let out an amused chuckle, standing up and giving the dog one last pat on the head. "Yes honey, tonight is up to you... for the most part."

"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" Jack wanted to know, as she inched closer to him, a devious look dancing in her eyes.

Sam simply shrugged, sauntering closer and closer to her husband-to-be. "I might have some ideas..."

"Oh?" he questioned. "Pray tell."

"Uh uh," she replied, shaking her head. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Alright," he agreed, reaching out and grabbing her hips when she was within reach, pulling her close to him, "that works, too."

**XXXX**

The next morning Jack awoke to the sound of close, loud barking. He groaned, turning over and snaking an arm around Sam's side, hiding his face in her neck. Ignoring the animal didn't work and she jumped up onto the bed, cuddling next to him and panting in his ear. After a few more seconds of being ignored she barked again, this time succeeding in waking up her human, as well as her human's human.

"For the love of God, Jack," Sam mumbled sleepily, "take her outside already."

"Why do I have to?" he whined into her hair.

"I'm pregnant." she said without opening her eyes to look at him. "I need all the rest I can get."

Damn.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, turning around and pushing the dog so she would jump back down off of the bed. "Come on mutt, let's take you to the bathroom then."

Pandora barked happily, the bathroom was exactly where she needed to go. And then, after that, breakfast!

Jack slumped out of the bedroom, taking off down the hallway at snail's pace, only speeding up when Pandora began to bark loudly to once again get his attention. She must have really needed to go or something, because Jack's head was starting to feel like it would explode at the next high-pitched sound coming out of the dog's throat. "Shh, 'Dora," he ordered, sliding open the glass door. "It's too early for that kind of noise."

That meant nothing to Pandora, but as soon as the door opened she was out it like a flash of lightning. Jack watched as she ran around the backyard, getting rid of some of her early-morning energy before she did her business and came back to the door that led into the house. Now, she was ready to eat and then go back to sleep until Sam let her out before work.

He poured some food into her bowl and filled up her water before making his way back into the bedroom and crawling under the covers, "She's too much like a baby for her own good..." he mumbled as he pulled his wife-to-be closer to him, not only to cuddle but to warm up quicker. "Five o'clock is too early for her to awake."

Sam didn't hear a word of it, though, because she was already fast asleep once more.

**XXXX**

When the two finally made it into work, a few hours later, both were refreshed and ready for the day. Sam a little more than Jack, since he was once again delivered a mile-high stack of paperwork. "Walter and I are going to end up having a talk about all of this paper were using... it's destroying the rain-forest, you know?"

"We could always find a nice, uninhabited planet off-world... use the trees from there."

If Daniel had been there Sam would be getting hell for that last statement, and she knew it. Of course, she had only been joking in suggesting it, but still... more things than humans depended on trees to live, and Daniel would have chastised her for even thinking it. It was like he was every kind of scientist all rolled into one. Like a Dr. Science of sorts.

"Ooh..." Jack said in a sing-song tone, "I'm telling Danny."

Sam laughed, not at all surprised that Jack had been thinking the same thing she had. Everybody knew of Daniel's scientific speeches. And nobody was particularly fond of them. In fact, people tried not to get scientific missons with SG-1 because of it... probably because of her tendencies to run off at the mouth about anything physics or engineering related. But then again, Naquadah generators were much more interesting than trees. Just ask O'Neill-- he'd tell you the same.

"So what's on the agenda today?" she asked as they entered the commissary and grabbed something for breakfast, before going to their normal table where Teal'c and Daniel were already sitting.

"Um, paperwork... a debriefing with SG-3 after they return from P6R-225 and a briefing with SG-8 before they head off to P2Q something or other." he shrugged and grabbed a stale-looking breakfast pastry. "I haven't looked over the preliminary report that much..."

There was a shocker. "Oh..."

"What about you?" he knew he was getting himself into trouble before he even asked, but he had to admit, she was damn sexy when she went into technobabble mode.

"Well, SG-11 brought back some kind of self-energizing battery from P3S-866 the other week and I've been working on it for awhile... I think I'm getting close to figuring out where the electrons that the negative terminal collects go and--"

Jack was actually surprised he had managed to listen to her talk for that long before he spaced out, not really paying attention to what she was saying and what the heck a negative and positive terminal was, instead watching her hands flail about in association to what she was talking about and her lips move at an alarmingly fast rate. God, she was so hot when she did that.

After awhile he tunned back into the explanation, "...we're trying to figure out how the substance that the denizens of 866 use instead of zinc factors into the whole equation. Since the planet doesn't have the mineral at all." She took a breath, ready to continue, but Jack stopped her before she could.

"It sounds fascinating..."

Sam smiled, not believing him in the slightest. "If you didn't want to heart about it, Jack, you could have just said so."

"I was too busy watching you talk."

She blushed slightly, doing her best to hide the flush of her cheeks. "So... where is SG-8 headed again?"

**XXXX**

Later on that day, Jack was walking through the corridors of the SGC, whistling under his breath and doing his best to avoid Siler or anybody else he might bump into-- or, might bump into him, more correctly. As he headed for Sam's office, to see about this strange battery she had found, he met up with Teal'c, who was walking in the same direction.

"Hey, T." he greeted. "Where are you going to?"

"I am currently on my way to see Colonel Carter."

"Really? Me too." He was silent for a moment. "So... how's Ishta?"

"She is well."

"Any plans yet...?"

"None."

"Teal'c, buddy... I'm not putting you down or anything, but your own son is married now. And yet, you are still single."

"I was once married, O'Neill."

"This I know," the man replied. "But... don't you think it's time you _re_-married?"

"Perhaps."

Yeah, that was about as much as he would get from Teal'c about his love life. "Alright then... speaking of Ry'ac. How is he doing?"

"He is well."

Jack sighed. Of course he was. "Bra'tac?"

"Bra'tac is—"

"Yeah, yeah..." Jack cut him off, "well. I know."

Teal'c nodded and they turned a corner. "How is Mark Carter?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. You should ask Carter."

"How is the planning of the wedding between you and Colonel Carter transpiring?"

"Good... we've almost got everything done. There's only three weeks left until the ceremony."

"And what of your 'Honey Moon'?"

"Dunno, you should ask Carter."

"What of the 'reception' at the SGC?"

Jack paused for a moment, "Um... maybe you should--"

"Ask Colonel Carter?"

"Yeah."

There was a brief silence, before Jack spoke again.

"So... how's Ishta?"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Like I have said on my page thingy, my laptop is messed up right now, so I'm currently working out of my sisters room, therefore updates might be few and far between for a bit. I'm hoping not though! I got two out today, because I had no homework and it's been raining so tennis was canceled, also... I have a feeling it will be the same for tomorrow, so I'm expecting at least another chapter out for another story. Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter. (I myself loved the conversation between Teal'c and Jack at the end :))**


	43. Chapter Forty Three

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty- Three**

**XXXX**

Sam shivered as she got out of her car, making her way towards her house, her arms wrapped around her body to retain a little warmth. It was a late September afternoon and getting closer to winter in Colorado Springs, which meant that snow was on its way. Thankfully, though, the sky was clear and neither snow nor rain would in the in forecast for days.

It was also a rare occasion for Sam, being able to drive home. At almost four months along, she hardly drove anymore, if only to make her husband to be feel more comfortable. However, she was still going through the Stargate on no-risk level missions, and had just recently returned from a visit to the Tok'ra home world. She was surprised when she gated home to find that he'd already left for the day. The fact that he was up to something was an instantaneous thought in her mind. Only ever was he not there when she returned when either something was wrong or he was planning something. When she weighed in the normal looks on the 'gate technicians faces and the fact of what the date was, the latter choice just seemed more plausible to her. And, for the most part, she was normally correct.

So, she had been forced to drive home. Well, not forced, she had been willing to go on her own. In fact, she had turned down an airman's offer to drop her off, knowing that her fiancé had probably asked him to do so. Sam had simply smiled at him and said that she could take care of it, but thank you very much. The airman had smiled back nervously, not really willing to argue with the boss' wife-to-be, but worried about what the boss would think when he didn't pull up into his driveway. Figuring a upset boss was the lesser-of-two evils (the other choice being a very mad, very pregnant, Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force) he had let her go, allowing her to take one of the Air Force issued four-doors.

She didn't particularly like driving the stuffy, old sedan, but it was better than sitting in the passengers seat of any car. What she really wanted to do was take a ride around on her motorcycle, but she knew that wouldn't be happening for more than half a year. Frowning slightly at the thought she had driven home, making sure to follow all the rules and be extra careful. Jack wasn't the only one who got protective of the babies when she drove, of course.

As she neared the door, her pulse quickening in anticipation and curiosity, the different possibilities of what he did have waiting for her ran through her mind, teasing and taunting her, making her all the more anxious. Quickening her step a bit she walked up the concrete steps and took out her key, unlocking the door and stepping inside, whilst holding her breath in readiness for the surprise.

What she found truly amazed and confused her; it was nothing. All the lights were out, which was something she hadn't noticed before entering the house, and it all seemed deserted. His truck was in the driveway, though, so he had to be at home. Where, then, was he at? "Jack?" she called out, stepping further into the house, feeling a frown forming on her face. He couldn't have forgotten, could he? He surely shouldn't have forgotten. This was important. Very important. He couldn't have forgotten...

When she received no reply she called out once more, making her way into the dining room, "Jack? I know you're here..." I hope.

Still, no answer. She flicked on the light to the dining room, eyes darting around, searching for signs that he was at home. There was nothing to indicate that he had been there in the past day or so, unless you counted the neatness of it all. The house had been a mess when she had gone, and she had almost asked him to postpone so she could straighten it up, but he had assured her he would take care of it. He had to have come home some time, since it was so immaculate. "This isn't funny, Jack..." she said to the nothingness of her home. "This is really _not_ funny."

Setting her things down on the table she turned a circle, once again looking throughout the room for something, anything to say that he had been there recently. When there was nothing to be seen she continued into the kitchen, her frown turning into a scowl when it was just as dark and empty as the living room and dining room had been. She was _so_ going to kill him. How on earth could he have forgotten?

He wasn't in the kitchen, either, she decided after giving the entire room close scrutiny. And it didn't look like he had eaten anything in the three days she had been gone, which worried her. Did something happen to him? "Come on Jack..." she said, heading down the hallway and peaking into the various rooms along the way to hers. The bathroom was empty, so was the linen closet and guest room. When she checked the nursery she found that though he wasn't to be seen, he had obviously been there recently. A gasp escaped her lips and her eyes began to water, due to allergies... of course. Or, the hormones. One of the two, she decided.

The entire room was finished. There were two cribs, settled next to each other in the middle of the room, and along the north and south walls were separate dressers and baby-changing stations, both pale yellow. It had been painted dark blue and on the ceiling there different clusters of stars and one constilation that she recognized as the Big Dipper. Other than that, there were no specific patterns to them, although one looked suspiciously like a fish while another looked like Homer Simpson's head, although she had no idea how he had managed that one.

For a few moments, she could do nothing but stand in the middle of the doorway, gaping at the entire room. It was one of the most beautiful and amazing things she had ever seen, even if it was simply a nursery room. There were four lamps scattered about the room, each with a different stage of the moon's rotation, dumbed down versions such as full, quarter, half, and new. Sam smiled, remembering when her brother had sent those to her, and took another look around. The sheets to the cribs were the same pale yellow of the dressers and the tiny comforter like blankets were covered with stars. On one crib it said Baby A, which meant it belonged to the first-born of the twins, and the other Baby B. Until they decided on the names, it was either him or her, of A baby and B baby, and Sam had to chuckle at the signs.

Deciding that there was no way he had done all of this and forgotten, she left the room, albeit hesitantly. There was only one place to look, other than the garage or outside, and she had heard no noises from either, and that place was the bedroom. She headed down the hallway, quietly, so she wouldn't give her arrival away, and creaked open the door as softly as possible. Once again, she found herself in the pitch black, and it was beginning to frustrate her. What good was the invention of light bulbs if they were never used, anyway?

Stepping further into the room, she extended her hand and fumbled for the light switch. When she found it she flicked it on with an anxious breath, only to find that it wouldn't turn. Damn light bulbs. They never worked when you needed them to. "Jack?" she called out to the inky darkness, "are you in here?"

Greeted with silence, Sam took another step into the room, jumping slightly when she heard the door shut behind her. Ah ha. He _was_ in the room. She knew it. Pretending to have not noticed the sudden change in the tiny bit of light the open door had provided, she continued on into the room. When she was almost at the bed she felt a pair of strong arms encompass her and couldn't hold in her giggle. "What is going on here, Mr. O'Neill?"

He kissed the curve of her neck, causing her to shiver, and whispered huskily, "Happy Anniversary."

She turned in his arms, allowing him to pull her closer to his body, which she realized immediately was void of a shirt. "Where were you earlier?" she questioned, bringing her arms around his neck and resting her forehead on his. "I was worried..."

Jack simply kissed her again, "Hold on, I'll show you."

Just as she was about to ask what he was going to show her, the lights in the room turned on and she let out a surprised, but excited, gasp. "Oh my god..." breaking away from his arms she turned around to get a better view of the room. It was completely covered in rose petals, like something out of a movie, although they weren't red roses, like the movies normally had. They were white, with pink tips. Her favorite. It didn't take her long to figure out that the bed was empty of petals, and a smile manifested on her face. "Jonathan O'Neill, are you trying to seduce me?"

"I still have to try?" he questioned innocently, the cutest expression on his face.

She shook her head, stepping closer to him and once again allowing him to pull her into an embrace, "You never did."

**XXXX**

Hours later, after they had eaten dinner, the two sat together in the living room to exchange gifts. He had bought her a beautiful three-stone, past-present-future, necklace, which she had immediately put on and admired. When it was her turn to give him his gift she smiled nervously, "I was wondering what on earth you get a man who has every DVD of the Simpson's, six different fishing rods and three tackle boxes, two non-military issued Beretta's and an antique .44 caliber pistol, not to mention the ammunition to last him the rest of his life, when it occurred to me that there was one thing you _don't_ have."

"Just one?" he asked in all seriousness.

"Well, there was more than one, but this is just one big thing." She smiled and got up off of the couch, going into the dining room and fishing something out of her purse before heading back to the living room and where he was sitting. "Ok, close your eyes and open your hand."

He did as he was told and she quickly let the object in her hand drop into his, whereupon he opened his eyes and looked with confusion. "It's a key..."

"Yes."

"A key to what?"

Sam grinned, "A key to a boat."

"A boat?" he asked, his eyes growing wide.

"_Your_ boat."

"My boat?"

Sam nodded, "Homer."

"Homer?" he repeated.

"What?" she questioned. "You don't like the name?"

"Oh, no... it's wonderful... _My _boat?"

"It's your boat, Jack."

"Well... where is it?"

"It's waiting for you at the dealership. We're going to pick it up in the morning."

Suddenly his expression turned from excitement to uncertainty, "Sam... boats cost a lot of money."

"I got a good deal on it and it was my money to spend. Dad didn't need any money from when I sold the house, since he's hardly ever on earth to spend it, so I got it all. Most of it went into a trust fund for the babies college money, granted one or both of them don't go into service, but I put aside some for a boat." She explained, assuring him that this wouldn't put them in debt so high up that they could swim in it. "Don't worry about the finances, I've got it all covered."

"Did Danny and T know about this?"

"Did Cassie know about my necklace?"

"...Yeah..." he replied. "She helped me pick it out."

"That's your answer."

"Danny and T helped you pick out _my_ boat?" he questioned, his eyebrows furrowing. "Are you sure that you should have asked _Doctor of Archeology Daniel Jackson _and _Jaffa Rebellion Leader Alien Teal'c_ for help on picking out _my _boat?"

Sam laughed and nodded, "I also asked the man at the dealership for help. The boat is perfect for you, Jack. Don't think so much."

Jack's right eyebrow climbed up his forehead, "Do you _know_ what you just said?"

Again, she laughed. "I do. You're over-analyzing the situation. Daniel and Teal'c did a good job with helping me out."

He leaned over and pressed his palm to her forehead, "Are you feeling ill? Are the babies alright? I think you're losing it..." he shook his head, "you can't be serious. Me, over-analyzing? Danny and T, boat shopping?" He paused, looking around the house suspiciously, "...Am I in an alternate reality or something?"

"No Jack. I'm being serious."

"What about Pandora... that's a sure sign that I'm in the right place. No other Jack would deal with that mutt. 'Dora! Come here girl." The sounds of jiggling charms traveled through the hallway and Pandora was immediately on the couch, sniffing at Jack and wondering what was going on. "Damn," he cursed, "she's still here."

A smile spread across Sam's face, Jack spoiled Pandora and he knew it. The teasing was just part of him trying to not appear to soft. "Yeah... whatever. You're in the right place."

"Alright then," he said with a smile, leaning over and catching her lips with his for a brief moment. "Thank you, Sam. I couldn't imagine a better gift... at least, until the little one's are born."

Sam nodded, fingering the necklace, "And I love my present, as well."

"The saleswoman said they're very popular. I know you're not extremely big on jewelery, but Cassie assured me you would like it."

"Well she was right." Sam assured him.

There was a slight silence in the room before he spoke again, "So... what's _my _boat look like?"


	44. Chapter Forty Four

**John Doe**

**  
Chapter Forty FourXXXX**

Sam wrapped her arms around her chest, in a failed attempt to retain a little bit of body heat, as she stood in the parking lot of the boat dealership. It was September 30th, the day after she had given her husband-to-be his one-year anniversary gift, and only then nearing 0800 hours. She should have been at home, in bed, but she was the only one who could pick up the boat, since she had been the one to buy it, so she had been forced to tag along. But, after a night like the one before, she would have done anything for her fiancé at that moment. She was beginning to regret that decision however, because it was_ cold_.

Currently, she was standing beside the two-story brown boat, watching as said-man checked it over, once and then twice and then once again. Just making sure everything was perfect and nothing was missing, he claimed. He wasn't gong to risk her life and the lives of his children because there was a valuable piece of the boat gone or broken. Sam was forced to believe him, and stand and wait while he scrutinized her gift to him.

"Can't you do this at home? Where I can stay in the nice, warm house?" she questioned, rocking back and forth slightly, hoping the movement would bring her some warmth. "I've signed all the papers and so have you... we can take it home and you can obsess there."

"What if I find something wrong with it?"

"Then you can bring it back." she stated. "I'm cold... let's go. Please?"

With a sigh, the man nodded. "Alright. I guess so."

"The truck will pull it, right?"

Jack nodded, "It should." Glancing back at the boat he grinned, "You sure Danny and T helped you pick this out?"

"Positive," she confirmed. "Teal'c is the one who found it."

"Who named it?" he asked, tracing the large, black letters that spelled out 'Homer' on the back.

"I did." she replied, stepping up next to him. "You can marvel at home just as easily as you can marvel here, you know?" Smiling slightly, she slid her hand into his and tugged at it, pulling him back with her to the truck. "Daniel and Teal'c are bringing Cassie over for lunch at 1300 hours."

"They brining the food, too?"

"Nope. You get to grill out."

"In this weather?"

She shrugged, "You made me stand out in this weather for an hour so you could get a boat you can't even take out on the water for another half a year, so I think it's a fair trade."

"Who says that I can't take it out?"

"The weather channel." she claimed with a smile. "It'll be snowing soon. There is no way I am going out on a boat when it's freezing. Not only would I never risk my warmth for fishing in a nearly frozen pond, but it's not good for the babies."

He frowned, she was right. "Well... oh well. I still want to have it at home."

Sam smiled and kissed him briefly, "I know. Let's go home." He helped her into the car (she had learned to let him, because he fussed when she didn't) and then he walked around to the drivers side and climbed in, turning on the truck. After letting the engine heat up they took off down the road, Sam turning the heat on high.

**XXXX**

Upon returning home, the two were greeted by an enthusiastic Pandora. The dog jumped up, placing her front paws on Jack's thighs, and barked happily, he tongue hanging halfway out of her mouth. Sam knew immediately what she was so excited for, and smiled because of it. "Take her outside, Jack, she has to go."

"Aw, come on Sam... maybe she's just happy to see me."

Sam gave him a look that told him that she knew what she was talking about, so he'd better not argue. Pregnant women are always right, anyway. "Just take her out. I'm going to call Daniel."

"Why do I always have to take her out?" he whined, although he pretty much knew what her answer would be, and agreed with it totally.

"Because I'm pregnant and it's cold and the cold isn't good for the babies." He was overly protective already, so using that excuse was very easy, not to mention the fact that it was true. At least, she was fairly sure that it was. Who knew? Anyway, the truthfulness of the matter wasn't at stake, the fact that he believed her was. And... he did. Jack sighed and headed for the back door, calling out for Pandora to fall him. The dog did, happy that somebody was finally home so she could take care of what needed to be done an hour ago. Humans. Always late. Her's were at least.

Meanwhile, Sam called Daniel to confirm that they were still coming over and that Jack loved the boat, even if the archaeologist and the alien had helped pick it out-- two people that nobody on the world would figure knew the first thing about boats. But then again, Daniel pretty much knew everything and Teal'c was always studying up on earth culture, so maybe it wasn't such a long shot that they had done a good job.

"We'll be that at about fifteen till," Daniel told her when she called. "Cassie is brining cake."

"Jack will love that," Sam said, sliding her hand over her swollen belly. Cake sounded wonderful to her, too, but she wouldn't be able to eat much of it, unless she wanted her children to come to the world with sugar rushes. With Jack as their father, they would already have a sweet tooth, so she didn't need to add fuel to the fire. "Is it chocolate?"

"Yup." Daniel replied, sounding amused. Everybody knew Jack's reputation with chocolate cake. The one Cassie was brining probably wouldn't last for ten minutes when he got sight of it. "I'll see you later, though. I have some work to finish up, first."

"It's Saturday, Daniel," she told him, as if he hadn't already known. With Daniel, that was a possibility, though. He seemed to lose track of time when he was working. Not to mention the fact he that he forgets to feed _her_ dog, and his self, as well. Sam was still a bit sore about that one, but she had expected as much, and Pandora hadn't been worse off for it. No harm, no foul, right? "Never mind," she sighed, taking back her earlier statement. "I'll see you later."

They hung up and Sam went into the kitchen to find Jack putting on a small batch of coffee. No use making an entire pot, since she had long since given up caffeine. Sam sighed, sitting in the nearest chair. "Daniel, Teal'c, and Cassie will be here at fifteen until 1300." she informed him. "They're bringing cake."

He looked over at her, forgetting the coffee that he had been anxiously waiting for to finish. "Chocolate?"

She couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. He was so cute when it came to cake. Like a five year old is when they're given candy. "Yeah, chocolate."

"Great," he said, turning back to his coffee, which had stolen his attention once more. Probably because the smell of it was becoming stronger and he had gotten a whiff of it. Sam sure had, and she was regretting the decision to give up the substance. Hot tea (without caffeine, of course) just didn't cut it for her.

"We have to pick up our clothes tomorrow." she stated, playing with the napkin holder on the table she was sitting at. "My dress and your tux."

"Yeah, I know."

"Not until 1100 though," she claimed. "I know how to set appointments for late in the morning..."

Jack grinned, poured himself a cup of coffee, and made his way to the table to sit next to her. "I'm sorry for waking you up early, Sam."

"The babies were kicking anyway," she told him with a shrug. "I just figured I'd give you a hard time."

With a snort of amusement he took a sip of his drink, "Women."

"Pregnant women," she corrected. "It's your fault, anyway. You got me in this position."

"You didn't complain _while _I got you into this position," he reminded her.

"When did I say I was complaining?" she questioned, "I've never been happier in my entire life."

"Must be the mood swings."

She swatted at him playfully, a smile gracing her lips, causing him to do the same thing. He never could resist her smile. Not that he was complaining, either.

"It is not the mood swings," she claimed. "Is it so hard to believe that you could make me happy, Jack O'Neill?"

"I still haven't figured it out, myself." he told her. "You are way too good for me."

Sam rolled her eyes, how many times had they gotten into this discussion? Too many for her liking, that was for sure. "You are perfect for me, Jonathan Jack O'Neill, and you'd better never question that." And that was the end of the discussion. Pregnant women are always right, anyway.

**XXXX**

Daniel, Cassie, and Teal'c arrived a few hours later, Cassie holding a cake plate, which Jack took off of her hands immediately. He claimed it was so she didn't have to carry it, but everybody knew it was because he wanted the first piece. And the second, and the third, and the last. Sam rolled her eyes and invited the three inside, whereupon they sat down in the living room.

"Can I see it?" Cassie questioned.

"The boat?"

"Yeah," she replied, "Danny told me about it."

Sam nodded, "Jack will take you..." She turned her head, looking through the divider between the kitchen and the living room, "Hon, take Cassie out to see _your_ boat."

"Ok!" he called, "Come on, rut."

Cassie only grinned at the name, her eyes rolling slightly. When she headed out of the living room, Daniel spoke up.

"Can I see it?"

"You helped pick it out," Sam told him with a slight chuckle. "Why on earth do you need to see it again?"

"The necklace," he corrected. "Not the boat."

"Oh," she pulled the necklace from under her shirt and moved across the room so that he could see it. "I've never really had a diamond necklace before, you know? I'm not that big of a jewelery fan."

"But...?"

"Jack bought it for me." she said. "Sappy, I know... but you know Jack. Shopping for jewelery for him is almost as shocking as you and Teal'c shopping for a boat."

Daniel frowned, "I didn't think that it was so far fetched for us to help."

"Jack thought it was," she told him with a shrug. "You should have seen his face when I told him you did. He probably figured it'd be horrible." She smiled, then was hit with a memory. "Hey, you wanna see the nursery? Jack finished it while we were gone."

"That would be most enjoyable," Teal'c said with a tilt of the head. Daniel nodded as well and the three of them headed for the nursery, hearing the back door open and Jack, Cassie, and Pandora coming inside. Figuring that if the two of them were curious as to where the others went Pandora would find them, she didn't bother calling out where they were heading. Jack would probably know already, anyway.

"Wow," Daniel said as they entered the room, looking around in a state of slight shock. "This looks great."

"Chell'nok," Teal's added, his eyes fixed towards the star-covered ceiling.

The linguist opened his mouth, ready to translate for her, but Sam remembered the phrase. "I know. Very cool."

He smiled sheepishly and looked towards the direction that Teal'c was, "He really did all of this in the short time that we were away."

"No," she informed it. "The room was about three-fifths of the way done when I left. He just finished it up and painted the ceiling."

"...Wow..." a voice from the doorway breathed out. The three turned to see Cassie, Jack, and Pandora coming into the room, Jack wearing a very smug smile. Sam sighed, rolling her eyes, and walking over to him. Snaking an arm around his waist she nudged him slightly.

"Don't get too much of a big-head, alright?"

"I'll try," he grinned. "If everybody keeps looking at it like it's the Sistine Chapel, and I'm Michelangelo, that will be a bit of a task, though."

"It's not _that_ great." Daniel informed him. "It is a pretty good job, though."

Cassie nodded in agreement, looking up at the ceiling with the same awe and wonder as the others had (well, Sam and Daniel; Teal'c's looks didn't change much). Her face scrunched up as she made an observation, pointing at the part of the ceiling directly above the twins beds, "Is that the face of Homer Simpson?"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Sorry it took for ever to get this chapter out. Firstly, I was out of town from early Thursday morning until Sunday mid-afternoon and then I've got some kind of cold or something, since it sees fit to snow in Kentucky (where I was) during April! So, not knowing it, I took some medicine to make my throat feel better, and it made me extremely drowsy so I didn't get this finished until midnight on the 27th. Ugh. Here it is though. I hope you enjoyed it. More to come.**


	45. Chapter Forty Five

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty Five**

**XXXX**

_One week later:_

"I've decided not to go off-world anymore," Sam declared as she sat down next to her husband-to-be, in the commissary of the SGC. Her break was premature, she wasn't even four months along and was cleared for 'gate travel up until her fifth month of pregnancy. Jack looked up from his pancakes at her, a little surprised by the statement.

"Really?" he questioned. If anyone had asked him, he would have told them that Samantha Carter would continue through the Stargate until the day she got too big to fit into her fatigues. Hell, he would have bet money on the fact that she would even argue with him to continue through long past that point.

"Yeah. The twins have been acting up so much lately that it's hard for me to concentrate even at home, let alone an alien planet." Not to mention the fact that her fatigues were beginning to get a bit snug. Sam was looking forward to the day when she could come to work at the breezy mountain dressed in her maternity clothing. It was highly unorthodox and completely against regulations, but her fiancé was the general, and that meant she could do pretty much whatever, and at that point in her life she wasn't above using his position to her advantage. The swollen feet and aching back kind of threw that part of her pride out of the window.

"Is it really that bad?" he inquired, taking a bite of his pancakes.

Understanding that Jack was fishing for an excuse to keep her from working all together, Sam shook her head. "I just don't want to take any unnecessary risks. I'll be just fine here."

Jack nodded, he had known that he wouldn't have been able tog et her to stay at home for the next five or so months, but at least she would be staying at the base, where he could watch her, with plenty of excuses to back his protectiveness up. "Well, it is your decision." he said, very nonchalant.

Sam snorted softly, he was probably doing a mental happy-dance at that moment, and there he was pretending as if he wasn't the least bit pleased at her choice. "Don't think this means I will quit working all together. I still have a few projects that I absolutely must finish."

He grinned, "I would never..."

"Uh huh," she said sarcastically. "I believe that one."

"You should, it's the truth." He smiled, glancing at her plate, which contained a few grapes and pear slices. The smile quickly turned to a frown, "Is that all you're going to eat?"

"I've been feeling a little bit nauseated this morning," she informed him. "I'm probably risking it by eating even this."

Well, it wasn't something that happened often, to her, at least, but morning sickness wasn't uncommon. "You want something salty? A cracker?"

She shook her head, "I'll be fine."

There was nothing left for him to do besides believe her. She didn't look pale and she was eating, albeit it, he wished she would eat some more than just some fruit. Nonetheless, it was her body and she knew what was going on with it much better than he did. He was certain she would eat later, when the sickness passed and she could have something a bit more solid. So, he finished up his pancakes, and they sat in a relative silence.

Moments later, after they finished their breakfast, the two left the commissary and went their separate ways. Jack to his office to work on paperwork, which seemed to dominate his time, ever since he had been promoted to general; and Sam off to her lab, where she had a 'non-explodeable' doohickey waiting to steal her time, going with the knowledge that her fiancé would probably drop by within the next half an hour, to make sure she hadn't defied physics and blown the thing up.

**XXXX**

"SAM!"his voice echoed through the house, bouncing from wall to wall, and finally entering the bedroom, where she was just coming out of the shower. "Samantha Carter!"

Not even bothering to stifle a groan, she wrapped her towel tightly around her body, leaving no room for it to loosen and slip, then walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway, just as he was getting ready to call out to her again. "What in the world is wrong?" she questioned, looking around for signs of blood or anything broken. Then she saw it. "...Oh..." she sighed. "Well, she is named Pandora for a reason..."

"So what... is she going to pay for it, since it was her curiosity's fault that my favorite chair now has claw marks and teeth prints in it?" he questioned, looking over at the over-sized chair, then back at her. "That was a comfortable chair."

"It can be replaced," Sam assured him. "Can I go get dressed now?"

"What?" he asked, slightly shocked. "That's it? 'It can be replaced'? You're not going to do anything about it?"

Sam had to keep herself from laughing this time, "Jack... honey, she is a dog. Yelling at her will do no good and no, I can't make her pay for it. I will get you a new chair, if it means that much to you."

He scowled, "It doesn't mean _that_ much to me, but she knows not to chew on things..."

"Fine, I'll have a talk with 'Dora after I get dressed. Will that make you feel any better?"

"You having a talk with the dog or you getting dressed? Cos, I gotta tell you, I kind of like the wet towel thing... it works for you."

"Yeah," she snorted, brushing a lock of damp hair behind her ear, "sure..."

"I'm serious," he said, following her as she walked down the hall towards their bedroom. "It _really_ works for you."

"We have to go to work in the morning," she reminded him, trying to make it into the bedroom and close the door behind her before he could follow. He was too quick for her, however, and he got into the room just as she shut the door.

"I know," he stated simply, shrugging his shoulders. "What's your point?"

"I have to have that talk with Pandora..."

"She won't understand one word that you say to her," he informed her, closing the space between them and pulling her into his arms. "And I don't think she'll mind missing out on it."

"Oh?" she questioned. "And, are you going to give me something better to do, then?"

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, capturing her lips with his own, "you bet'cha."

**XXXX**

When Sam woke up, at a much later time, he was already awake, staring down at her, wearing a broad grin. "What?" she questioned, reaching out to stroke his cheek with the tips of her fingers.

He shook his head, "I was just thinking..."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

"In fifteen days you and I are going to be married." he replied, his grin growing bigger. "Actually, the thought that was running through my mind just now was _I'm gonna marry Carter _and _sweet._"

She let out a surprised chuckle and pulled him closer to him, kissing him softly. "I'm gonna marry the colonel, _sweet_."

"Hey," he said, pushing a stubborn lock of hair out of her eyes, "that's general to you."

"Maybe so," she reminded him, "but I fell in love with Colonel O'Neill, not General O'Neill, granted, I love him, as well. Still, you will always be _Colonel _to me."

"OK, I can accept that."

"Oh? You can? Well, thank you, _O Great and Powerful General_."

"You're welcome... but you forgot 'hot'."

"I thought we had a discussion about you not getting a big head?" she questioned of him, the smile on her face growing.

"We _did_." he assured her.

"Did you not pay attention?"

"I did."

"Uh huh..."

Jack grinned and kissed her deeply, "Time to get up, now."

"Ugh," she groaned, "let's just blow work today. That don't need us _that_ much."

"They don't need me that much," he clarified, "but they need you that much and a thousand times more."

She frowned, "Darn. And here I thought we could spend the day together, being lazy and lying in bed..."

"Nope." he told her, wishing he could play hookie. "It's off to Oz for us."

**XXXX**

They entered the Cheyenne Mountain Complex nearly an hour later, both fully awake and ready to start their work-days. Sam had gotten over her rebellious streak and was already thinking of the different projects she could work on, perhaps even complete, that day, and Jack was just imagining how many feet the stack of paperwork, that was sitting on his desk, had grown over night. Well, one of them was ready to start the work-day, as it was.

They stopped by the commissary first, where both ate the scrambled eggs and toast that had been made that morning, albeit, Jack eating far more than Sam. She was feeling slightly uneasy and didn't want to push it by eating too much. She would come back in an hour or so and get some more toast or something, she promised him, before they went their separate ways, much like the morning before.

And, she had done exactly that. About an hour and half after the breakfast she had shared with her fiancé, she went back to the commissary and sat with Captain Deflorentes, the 2IC of SG-5, who claimed she was eating a late breakfast because her team had returned from P2Y-336 earlier that morning and she had just then gotten out of the showers. Sam was slightly jealous, wishing she could go off world once again and not have to worry about two other lives, besides her own. However, she wouldn't trade being pregnant for anything.

"How is Major Todd?" she inquired casually, remembering something Jack had told her about the two dating.

Deflorentes smiled impishly, "He's fine, Colonel. How is General O'Neill?"

"He's wonderful," Sam replied. "Over-protective at times, but wonderful."

The younger woman glanced at the bulge in Sam's stomach, "I'd be slightly worried if he wasn't over-protective, ma'am. There's a lot he has to watch out for."

"Indeed there is," Sam agreed. "What about you?"

"Me?" she asked, slightly surprised. "Not anytime soon."

"Excuse me for asking, Captain. but you're what, 27?"

"28," the woman corrected. "Just turned."

"Sometime soon would be better than sometime later. I know I wish I had gotten my act together when I was your age. Odds are, I won't be in this position again."

"Good thing you doubled up, this time, then," the woman told her with a smile. "You're not old at all, ma'am, you've still got a few years until it would become risky."

Sam nodded, "That may be true, but I think we'll have our hands full with two, let alone another."

Amanda Deflorentes nodded, "I'll keep your advice in mind, ma'am, but I have a debriefing that I have to get to." She excused herself from the table and left, but not before she rested her hand on the colonel's swollen belly, smiling lightly to herself. "I'll see you later, Colonel."

"Have fun, Captain," Sam replied with a grin, lately all the women on the base were drawn to her stomach like there were magnets attached to it and them. Not that she minded, it was actually something that she took pride in. When the Captain had gone, Sam herself finished her meal and took off back towards her lab.

**XXXX**

Jack sighed as SG-5 left the briefing room, it wasn't even 1100 hours yet and he was already wishing it was time to get home. Now that his debriefing was over, he had to return to the stack of files in his office (which had only grown 3 inches over night, rather than one or more feet). That wasn't something he was particularly thrilled about, not surprisingly.

He didn't have to worry about it, however, because five minutes after he sat down, Daniel knocked on the door to his office. He didn't know who it was at first, however, but it didn't take long for him to have an idea. Only two people on base ever entered his office without his permission, Sam and Daniel. Sam, because she was his fiancée and could do just about anything she wanted, and Daniel because he wasn't military and didn't really care if O'Neill got fussy because he didn't follow the correct protocol.

"Danny boy, what can I do for you?" Jack questioned, motioning for the archaeologist to sit down.

"Uh... Teal'c and I were wondering. Now that Sam is no longer on active duty, what is going to happen to SG-1?"

"I haven't thought about it yet," Jack admitted, tapping his pen on his desk, in a particularly annoying manner.

"Well, don't you think that you should?" Daniel inquired, leaning back in his chair and quirking an eyebrow at him.

"I suppose..."

"And?"

"I'll think about it..."

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"Until you get done 'thinking' about it, what happens to Teal'c and I?"

"You go with SG-5 back to P2Y-336."

Daniel blinked, "...Why...?"

"Because they found some ancient ruins that I would like you to examine."

"And Teal'c?"

"He'll be watching after you."

"Jack." Daniel said pointedly.

"Daniel. You're forgetful. You don't even remember to feed an animal when Sam and I are out of town. You forget to feed yourself when we're off world and you're looking at gibberish. And SG-5 isn't that aware of the fact that you let yourself get lost in work out there, so Teal'c will be going so that he can force you to eat and sleep. OK?"

Daniel grumbled an "alright".

"Good. Now... I have paperwork to do."

Actually, he had paperwork he should do, but wasn't really planning on doing. Either way, with Daniel out of the office he was free to nap or play with his game boy or Rubix Cube.

"Will you have an answer for me when I get back?"

"I should. You won't get back for four days."

"When do we leave?"

"1700."

Daniel sighed, "I'd better go tell Teal'c."

Jack nodded and waved him off, "Goodbye, Daniel."

"I'll be back later, Jack," the man informed him before he shut the office door behind him.

The General shrugged, gave his stack of paperwork a lazy glance, and then quickly decided that an extra hour of sleep wouldn't hurt so much. He could always do the paperwork later, anyway.

**XXXX **

**A/N: Ugh. Colds have this nasty habit of going away for a few days and then coming back, ten fold, when you have a tennis match, no less. I hate allergy season.**

**Anyway... end rant. Let me know what you think about the chapter.**


	46. Chapter Forty Six

**John Doe**

**  
Chapter Forty Six**

**XXXX**

Later that night, Jack was busy watching The Simpson's in the living room, while Sam obsessed over the last minute arrangements to their wedding, which was only roughly a week away. When the planning finally started to get to her, she abandoned it for the night and retreated to where her fiancé was engrossed with the television. She sat down on the couch next to him, and rested her hand on his thigh to gain his attention, he turned to look at her and smiled gently, even though she knew he wanted to go back to his show. "Now that I'm not going to be traveling with SG-1 anymore," she asked, "what is going to happen to Daniel and Teal'c?"

He shrugged, "The best thing that I can figure, would be to just dismantle the team until you're back on full-time duty, and have them temporary assigned to other teams..." Both knew that Teal'c and Daniel wouldn't be particularly fond of the idea of being sent to another SG team, but it wouldn't be forever and, it was necessary... unless they wanted somebody else to be their CO for more than half a year.

"How come you sent them off with SG-5?" she questioned. Daniel had come to her office complaining on being sent out on a mission so soon after she decided to no longer join the team through the 'gate, but such didn't last long, since it did have some archaeological importance. After he had explained everything to her, Sam had got that he was more upset that Jack had assigned him a babysitter, i.e. Teal'c. She had simply informed him of the various times when he had forgone dinner or sleep in order to study something enigmatic. Daniel had been forced to agree with her, because pregnant women are _always_ right.

"Daniel was bugging me about what I was planning on doing, and I figured they'd probably find something he would obsess over when they returned, then fuss at me for not letting him go along. But mostly, because he was bugging me..." he shrugged once more, and glanced at the TV just in time to see it go to commercial. "How is the planning coming along?"

"Very slowly... we've basically gotten everything done and over with, I just want things to be perfect, so I'm going over it all one last time," she smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I've never been a bride before, you know?"

"Yeah, I know..."

She rubbed her stomach, wincing slightly, "I've never been a mother, either..."

Jack snaked his arm around her waist, resting his hand on top of hers, which was still lying on her stomach, "Don't worry so much, Samantha. You're great at everything else, you're going to be a wonderful mother."

A smile spread across her face, she loved it when he called her Samantha. Had it been anybody else, or even him, and a few years earlier, she might have hit somebody for doing so, but when he said it... she got chills. "With your help, I don't know how I could ever go wrong."

He gave her a look that plainly said that she needed him for nothing, and kissed her deeply. Before they could continue things further, Pandora jumped up onto his lap, jealous of the attention he was showing Sam, or maybe the attention Sam was showing him. She barked happily, her tag thumping on his knees, and her tongue hanging out of her mouth, mid-pant.

"Stupid mutt," he grumbled, although he ran his hands through her silky hair and slapped her agaist the back affectionately. Sam chuckled slightly and got up from the couch. "Where are you headed?" he questioned, allowing the dog to occupy the seat she once had.

"Fried bologna sandwich," she replied, headed for the kitchen. "You want one?"

Hiding a grimace, he called out to her that he was just fine, and didn't want anything to eat. Fried bologna? Who knew what all was in that mystery meat.

Not that she was particularly fond of it, either. The only reason they had any in their house was Teal'c, who wasn't afraid to eat anything. However, she was getting to the point where her cravings were becoming more frequent and a lot more strange.

Around five minutes later she was back in the living room, pushing 'Dora out of her way and sitting down on the couch. "Is the show still on?" she questioned, ripping off a piece of her sandwich and handing it to the dog, who took it happily. Like Teal'c, she was afraid of no food.

He shook his head, "Family Guy is on now."

She made a face, but continued to sit anyway. Although, it was apparent to him that she wasn't paying attention to the TV screen, but rather daydreaming of something obscure. "What'cha thinking about?" he questioned, turning the TV on mute.

Sam smiled and pointed at the picture frames on top of the entertainment center, "I kinda miss those days, you know? When you were the CO and I was the 2IC, and I always had to sleep in the tent with Teal'c, because you were too afraid to share one with me, and I couldn't sleep with Daniel's snoring. It was... nice."

"This is _better_ though," he inquired, "right?"

"Of course it is," she assured him. "But, I miss going on missions with you. You're very hot when in military mode. It's not as fun anymore..."

"Am I not hot in fiancé mode?"

"Oh, you're incredibly sexy in fiancé mode, but there's always more appeal when you know you can't have something..." she shrugged. "I like this better, but it was fun back then, with the subtle flirting."

"It wasn't always that subtle," he replied. "You jumped me in the locker room, remember?"

"I was under the influence of an alien virus," she reminded him. "For the most part..."

He grinned, "Couldn't resist me?"

"Oh, I could, under normal circumstances. But, being the alpha male wasn't the only appealing thing about you," she smiled. "You've got a very nice backside, and I've always been a sucker for defined jaws."

Jack chuckled slightly, "And here I always thought that the women on base all prefered Daniel's bum."

"Sorry to tell you," she informed him, "but most of them do. But, that's because he's available."

"I was, up until a bit over a year ago..."

"Technically, but I had dibs on you," Sam replied with a grin.

"Dibs?"

"Come on, you can't tell me you never gave somebody the evil eye because they looked at the in the wrong way?" her right eyebrow arched as she waited for his reply.

"Well..."

"Uh huh," she said, still grinning. "Don't worry, I did the same thing, so you can't really get in trouble for it."

He shrugged, "Maybe... a couple of times."

Sam rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, like she had previously that night, "We were really stubborn back then, weren't we?"

"Stupid is more like it," he sighed. "But, it brought us here..."

"True," she replied, taking his hand into hers and lacing his fingers with her own.

"You tired?" he questioned, it was nearing 2200 hours, and lately the twins had been causing her to get sleepy earlier than she would have in normal circumstances. Sam nodded, rubbing her stomach with her free hand, a fairly good tip that the babies were still fidgeting in their warm home. When she finally went to bed, they most likely would. "Come on then," he told her, getting up from the couch and helping her off of it, as well. "Let's get you to bed."

"Yes sir, General sir," she replied, giving him a sloppy salute.

"Damn straight, Colonel," he told her, kissing her briefly. "That's what I like to hear."

**XXXX**

They ate a quick breakfast in the commissary the next morning, due to his debriefing at 0900 hours, and her new doohickey. For the next four hours, until they met up for lunch, the two worked non-stop... or at least Sam did. Jack locked himself in his office after the meeting, told Walter to hold his calls, and worked on his surprise. The only other person who knew anything about it was Cassie, and she would be coming to stay with them the next night, according to her, to visit and see Sam's fat belly. Jack knew that the young woman was really coming to help him, and he appreciated it. He was having a bit of trouble doing it on his own.

When it was nearing 1300, he put his work away in a safe place, and asked Walter if anybody had called. He had gotten one call from the Sec Def, about a new treaty that was in the works, but that was all. Jack would call him back after lunch.

Over lunch, they talked about the wedding, which would take place in just a week from that date. She was nervous, certain that everything would go wrong, and he assured her that no matter what happened, the only thing that would matter is the "I do's". After that, she wasn't so vocal of her fears, because most of them had been put away for the moment.

After that, they discussed the twins, and how she was feeling. Really, he was obsessing about her health, and she was assuring him that, while they were being a bit impatient, she was perfectly fine. Never been better, in fact. He was forced to believe her, because, as Daniel had found out the day before, pregnant women are _never_ wrong. Especially if the pregnant woman is your wife-to-be. In one week, no less.

When lunch was over, she went back to her lap to run diagnostics on whatever it was she was working on, and he went to call the Secretary of Defense. A phone call that ran him almost two hours straight. A very boring phone call that ran him almost two hours straight.

"What'cha doin'?" he questioned, sitting down in the sole chair in her lab. The question was just for talk, of course, because he already knew that he wouldn't understand a word of her explanation, and she did as well.

"Working," she mumbled in reply. That was easy enough for him, anyway.

Jack nodded, "I know that... what'cha working on?"

"You wouldn't want to know," she informed him. "It's very complex and me telling you would take a lot of big words that are hard for me to pronounce."

"You know, pregnancy has made you a bit more..." he searched for the perfect word, and when it took him a few seconds she tried an option out.

"Rude?"

He shook his head, "I was thinking along the lines of insubordinate."

"That's not being pregnant, Jack... it's because I spend all of my day around you."

"Oh," he replied. "Right." That made sense, too.

"Shouldn't you be working, sir?" she questioned, looking up from her whatchamacallit and catching his eye. He shrugged, twirling around in the chair.

"I _should_."

"And yet... you're here?"

"I was bored."

"I should have known," she went back to her work, hiding a smile. The truth was, she was glad he had come and stopped by. She was getting a bit bored, as well. These no-hazard projects weren't as fun as the ones that blew up.

"I just got off of the phone..." he sighed. "Since after lunch."

"That's almost two hours," she informed him, a bit surprised. "You were on the phone for that long?"

"It wasn't my idea, it was the Sec Def's fault. He wanted to hear every single thing about the people of P3E-552."

"The Dicreats?"

"Yeah... them."

"We're going to be allies, of course he asked a lot of questions..."

"He'll be at the briefing with them when we get back from our Honey Moon, he should have waited until then and asked them."

Sam smiled, "Why wait when he could have just asked you?"

He thought about it for a second, then shrugged. "So... what time are you planning on getting out of here?"

"1800, does that sound good to you?"

"Sounds fine," he replied. "I'll meet you here then?"

"You probably should, I might forget to look at the clock."

He nodded, "I'll see you then, Colonel."

"Right..." she replied. "General."

Jack left her office and headed back to his, looking forward to spending the next two and a half hours with his Game Boy and working on his and Cassie's plan for Sam.

**XXXX**

**A/N: So anyway... sorry it took so long to get this update out. With mothers day being last Sunday, my birthday being tomorrow (and my drivers license test!), and not to mention the end of the school year, I've had a lot on my plate. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm not sure how much more there is to go... **


	47. Chapter Forty Seven

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty Seven**

**Slight Spoilers for Chain Reaction. **

**XXXX**

It was a Wednesday morning, still early, and pitch black outside. The countdown to his wedding day was down to three days, and the beginning of his two week long downtime was less than twenty four hours away, where, her longer downtime had already begun. He climbed out of their warm bed, praying not to wake her with the movement, and smiled as their medium sized dog stole under the covers and took up for his absence. She stirred slightly, and he held his breath, but all was well. Instead of waking, she threw and arm over the fury creature and sighed in her sleep.

Since he had showered the night before, so that he wouldn't wake her in the morning, he changed into some clothes and headed out into the living room. The entire house was black, and he had to feel his way through the inky air around him. He found the corner he needed to turn, and took it, his hands sliding across the wall, looking for a switch. He found it, flipped it up, and a soft, yellow light filled the kitchen.

The automatic coffee machine had already begun it's job, and was nearly finished with his extra-strength cup of joe. He had decided on going in to work earlier that morning, so that he could leave earlier that afternoon, and get the last minute preparations and pickups finished and over with. Since he would be arriving two hours earlier, he would be leaving at 1500 hours, rather than 1700. But then again, rarely did he ever leave at that time, anyway.

He poured his coffee into a thermos, grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, then headed out of the house, making sure to be his complete quietest. It wasn't even 0500 yet, and he would feel like a jerk if she woke up so early because he was bumping around in the darkness.

As he drove to the SGC, his mind was flooded with the reality that within a few days, he would once again be a married man. And, while before, when he had first divorced his wife, he had never thought it possible, now, he couldn't have been happier. Or more nervous.

**XXXX**

When she woke up, she cursed her years of working. It was just turning light outside, which told her it was still way too early for her to be up on a day off, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to catch at least another hour of sleep. But, she was four months pregnant with twins, and they were already awake and ready for the day, even if all she wanted to do was stay under the warmth of her blankets and cuddle with her dog. They had other plans... which included a bathroom.

She groaned and slid out from the covers, making her way to the adjacent bathroom quickly and tended to the call of nature. Afterwards, she took a long, hot shower, and dressed in her soon-to-be husband's old Air Force shirt and her most comfortable pair of maternity pants. It wasn't as if she was going to be impressing anybody that day, at least not until they went out at 1500, which was many hours away.

After a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, she straightened up around the house, was was, for the most part, already clean. When she had completed that, left with nothing else to do, she watched TV. She got bored of the History channel fairly quickly, and began flipping through the stations, looking for something that would occupy her time. But, in the early hour, there wasn't much on, other than the news or infomercials. And the last thing she wanted to watch was a thirty minute long description of the newest make-up craze or acne medication that really _does_ work.

The search proved to be useless, because there was nothing interesting enough to catch her attention on so early in the morning, and there probably wouldn't be for a few hours. She laid a blanket over her legs, and rested her head against the pillows of the couch, closed her eyes, and prayed that sleep would come, at least for a little while. The twins were behaving, and if she was going to get any it would have to be then, because they hardly ever rested, or so it seemed.

Nearly an hour later, she woke up, surprised that she had actually fallen asleep. A sudden, sharp pain in her abdomen reminded her of what had waken her in the first place, and she winced because of it. One of them, or both of them, were kicking, or punching, probably both. She placed her hand over her stomach, in the area she had felt the pressure, in hopes of soothing the baby, or babies, so that he, she, or they, would stop with whatever they were doing.

To her comfort, she found that her plan had worked, and after about a minute of rubbing the area where the baby was moving, it stilled and she was once again given a little bit of peace. Still sleepy, she closed her eyes, hoping to drift off to sleep again. She had almost obtained her goal, and was already nodding off, when the shrill ringing of the telephone broke through the wonderful silence in the room. Sam cursed.

Reaching for the phone, and picking it up on the third ring, she greeted the person at the other end with a tired voice, "Carter." She really didn't have the energy for a long hello.

"Hey, Sam... did I wake you up?" It was Cassandra Fraiser.

"Cassie... it's only 0745 in the morning. I know why I am up. Why are you up?"

"I have a class at 8:30 that lasts until 10... I was wondering if you wanted some company afterwards," she informed her. "My only other one today doesn't start until 2 o'clock."

Well... at least the girl was family, which meant she wouldn't have to change clothes. "Sure, Cassie. That sounds great. I'll see you... at about 1030?"

"Something like that-- do you want me to bring you any food?"

"Nah," Sam replied.

"Okay... I'll see you in a bit."

Sam said goodbye and then hung up, laying the phone on the coffee table and curling back up underneath the blanket, her eyes drifting shut once again. She was really, really tired lately, not that that was surprising. The twins took a lot of energy out of her, and they still had so long to finish developing. Sam began to wonder what it was going to be like in her 8th month of pregnancy, but before she could finish her thought, she was once again asleep.

**XXXX**

Jack had begun to nod off at his desk, when a knock at the door to his office brought him back to reality. He cursed under his breath, starting to regret his idea to wake up so early... or the fact that he and Sam had gotten to bed so late. Thinking about it again, he decided that what he regretted was waking up at 0430, not going to bed at 0100. Remembering the reason he was awake, he sighed and called out to whomever had knocked, "Come on in."

Not surprisingly, it was Daniel. He had just gotten back the day before from a mission, and Jack had wondered when the man would come probing for answers. And he knew exactly what questions the young archaeologist would be asking. It wasn't a conversation he was exactly thrilled to be having, but it was a whole lot better than the stack of paperwork on his desk.

"Hey, Jack..." he greeted, taking a seat in front of the man's desk. "Have you given any thought to what's going to happen with SG-1 now that Sam is on light-duty?"

"Yes," Jack informed him. "That I have."

When it was apparent that he wasn't going to explain further, Daniel spoke up again. "And...?"

"Until Carter returns to active duty, SG-1 will be put on hold, and you and Teal'c will go off-world with the other teams."

If Daniel was attempting to hide his distaste for the decision, he was doing an extremely bad job of it. "So, in other words, for the next ten months to a year, Teal'c and I will be switching back and forth between teams... doing what?"

"I didn't say you would be switching back and forth. You are going to be working with SG-2, and Teal'c will be working with SG-5."

"You're splitting us up, too?" Daniel questioned, in shock. "...Jack..."

"I know," he replied. "It sucks. Trust me, I wish I had some other option. But, I can't send out a two man team, and I know you guys don't want somebody replacing her as your CO, even if it's not permanent. I made sure I wasn't sticking you with people you hated. The Marines love Teal'c, and on SG-2, you've got Feretti..."

Daniel scowled, and decided to change the subject. "Have you gotten any word on who you're temp is going to be?"

Jack nodded, "Some Two Star General, Floyd, I believe. Kenneth Floyd. Apparently, he is an old friend of Hammond's, and comes with very high marks. George says there is nothing to worry about, he's not another Bauer and you're not going to get stuck with a desk job."

Not appearing at all convinced, Daniel nodded. "So... Three days, eh?"

**XXXX**

Sam was awake when Cassie arrived, a few minutes after 1000 hours. Of course, she had been up since after 0830, and unlike the previous times, hadn't been able to fall back asleep. The twins were up for good, and if they had to be, the so did mommy. It was only fair. She greeted the younger woman with an awkward hug, due to the bulge in her stomach, and again, she wondered what would be in store for her, come the end of her pregnancy.

"How are you doing?" the young girl asked, although she had visited less than a week before. Things could change in such a short amount of time, anyway.

"I'm fine, you?"

"Good... I'm great." they walked into the living room and sat on the couches, whereupon Pandora found her way onto the same couch as Cassie, and laid her head in the college students lap. Cassie ran her hands through the dogs long hair and looked up at Sam once more, "How are the little ones?"

"Moving excessively..." Sam replied with a sigh. "They have been all morning."

Cassie frowned, "Sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Sam reminded her.

Pandora barked, as if to make her presence known. The humans had been ignoring her, which was something that she absolutely hated. Even though the shorter one had been petting her, she hadn't been paying attention.

Cassie looked down at her, "You wanna go outside girl?"

The dog barked again, her tail wagging excitedly. Outside! She knew that word. She _liked_ that word. Yes, outside was good. She wanted outside.

"Come on then," she was gently pushed off of the couch and ran off towards the back door, which she knew was the place that led her to _outside._ Cassie followed after her, and Sam after Cassie.

"I'll get her ball so that we can play with her," Sam informed Cassie, as she opened up the sliding glass door which lead to the back yard. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Diet coke, if you have it."

"I'm sure we have some," Sam assured her, heading into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she ran upon a calender and stopped to look at it for a moment. It was the middle of October, and her wedding was set for Saturday... just three days away. She smiled broadly, though nobody was around to see it, and grabbed the soda for Cassie and a bottle of water for herself.

She was getting married in three days.

**XXXX**

**A/N: I know, this one took a bit longer to come out. I've had a busy week. It's almost the end of school and I've got all of my exams to deal with, and then last Wednesday was my birthday, so I went out and got my license, then I had family in from Thursday to Sunday, and a birthday party on Saturday. I haven't had much time to update... hopefully the next one will be out sooner.**


	48. Chapter Forty Eight

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty Eight**

**XXXX**

_One more day. _Sam awoke with a jolt, the thought entering her mind just as a foot kicked against her stomach. Wincing in pain, she looked around the room, not surprised to find that he was no longer there. No doubt, he had waken much earlier and left her in bed to sleep. She was a bit surprised, however, that the babies were only becoming active now, at 1000 hours. Rubbing her swollen stomach to sooth whoever was up and active, she climbed out of the bed and headed down the hall, the smell of bacon becoming clearer and clearer with each step. Thankfully, she had gotten past the nausea stage of her pregnancy and the smell of breakfast wasn't going to send her running back down the hall to the bathroom.

Sure enough, he was in the kitchen, standing before the stove, looking rather disheveled. Maybe he had only just waken up, too. His hair was sticking up at all ends and all he was wearing were his boxer shorts and a plain white shirt. "Good morning, camper..." she said sleepily, as she sat down at the kitchen table.

He glanced over at her with a smile, "Morning. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, your son or daughter did," she assured him, still rubbing her stomach. "Today is beat-up mommy day, I guess..."

"I'm sorry, babe," he told her, flipping the bacon over. "Will bacon and eggs make it any better?"

She nodded, "I think it just might."

They were silent for a few seconds, both realizing that it would be their last morning together as a non-married couple. That night, Sam would be whisked away by Cassandra, who had taken interest in the rules of a wedding and simply would not allow the bride and groom to see each other before the big day. They decided to humor the girl and go along with her plan, although neither one really cared about the superstitions.

"Only a day left, eh?" he questioned, turning off the stove and putting the cooked bacon onto a plate with a napkin on it.

Sam took in a deep breath, "Yeah... it's exciting, huh?"

He nodded, "Extremely." A suspicious look passed through his eyes, "You're not going to pull a Julia Roberts on me, are you?"

Laughing slightly, she shook her head, "You think I can run faster than you, with these two slowing me down?"

"Good point..." he replied, his eyes twinkling with humor. "Hey, you want orange juice or milk?"

"I can get it myself, Jack," she informed him, making a move to get out of her chair.

"I'm sure that you can," he replied, putting a hand up in a universal gesture for her to stop what she was doing, "but today I am going to do it for you. Alright?"

"If you must," she told him, sitting back down, with a sigh. Sure, he was going to be her husband in a day, and the father of her developing twins, but she still didn't like being babied because of her condition. Then again, he was only showing her how much he loved her, so it didn't bother as much as it would have if it had been anyone else. "And I want orange juice."

Nodding, he went to the fridge and pulled out the Tropicana container, along with milk for his coffee. Sam sighed at the smell of the caffeine and vaguely wished she could have a cup, even a soda. A sharp kick to her abdomen took her out of her thoughts, and she agreed that the reason was well worth it. While she was brooding over her lack of coffee and soda, he brought her breakfast to her, then sat down in the chair beside her with his own plate. "It's not Emril, but it will do..."

She smiled softly and nodded, what he didn't admit was, when it came to certain dishes, he was a very good cook. A whole lot better than she was, as it were. They ate breakfast in a relative silence. Words weren't necessarily needed between the two, most of the time. And it was nice to just be able to sit in the silence, given the nature of their work. Silence was a good thing... normally.

Halfway through the meal, the telephone came to life, cutting through the silence with a shrill ring. Jack sighed, pushing his chair back and grabbing the phone from it's spot on the kitchen counter. "O'Neill," he greeted, thinking that soon, he wouldn't really be able to respond with that, at least on the phone. Soon, there would be two O'Neill's, and then shortly after that, four.

The formality of her greeting didn't matter, though, because the person at the end would know his voice without him having to clarify. Daniel Jackson didn't even introduce himself over the phone, and instead launched into his question, "So what time do Teal'c and I need to be at your house tonight?" he asked, sounding as if he had been up all night, kept so by cup after cup of coffee. Which, Jack knew, was probably the case.

"Um... Cassie is picking Sam up at 2000 or so, I think. So, that's probably a good time..." he looked over at his wife-to-be and she nodded, confirming that 8 o'clock was, indeed, the time the young woman would be there. "Yeah, 2000 is good."

"Oh, alright. What about dinner? Order out... Chinese or Pizza?"

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I'll have something here before you get over."

"Okay. Well..." the man paused. "That's all..."

"I'll see you later, Danny," Jack told him. Before the doctor could hang up the phone, he interrupted, "Daniel..."

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Get some sleep..."

There was a pause, almost as if the man was shocked by the statement. "...I will..."

"Now, Danny. Get some sleep now."

"Yeah, right on it." he hung up the phone and Jack chuckled to himself, hanging up as well and going back to his chair.

"I really wish you weren't leaving me tonight," he told her with a sigh, as he sat back down. "Danny and T are going to end up driving me nuts one day."

"What about Cassie? She's more worried about this wedding than I am."

"Why would she be worried?" he questioned, taking a bite of eggs. "You tell her something you've not told me?"

Sam rolled her eyes with a smile, knowing he was just teasing her. "She's planned a great deal of the ceremony and party with me, so she's just worried that things might not go like they are supposed to. You know, the kinds of things that I am supposed to be stressing over."

"You're not are you?" he asked, concerned. "Stress is bad for the twins."

"I'm fine, Jack. I've never been more confident in my life."

"Good."

"The only thing I am worried about is having all of those off-world humans and humanoid aliens there, and some earth human getting suspicious about it..." she confessed. "But Teal'c has that covered, right?"

"Yup, How to Act Like a Human 101 is going on at 1800 hours tonight, right after everybody arrives."

She grinned, "Well, then my worries are taken care of."

He nodded. "Good."

About that time, a cold, wet nose pressed against Sam's knee. She jerked back, startled by the animal's presence, then laughed slightly at herself. Jack threw her a confused look and she pushed her chair back to expose the dog, as she begged for a piece of bacon from Sam's plate. A sucker for the crystal blue of Pandora's eyes, the bacon was given up without much effort on her part. Satisfied with herself, 'Dora ran off to eat her earnings in silence.

"You're a push-over," Jack observed.

"I am not," she informed him with a smile, "I just love my dog."

"Um hmm," he muttered, disbelieving. Then, much quieter, he mumbled "push over," although he knew she would hear it. She gave him a dirty look and kicked him under the chair, feeling proud of herself when he winced slightly. "I forgot," he groaned, rubbing his sore shin, "you're pregnant... always right."

Sam shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her eggs, smiling to herself. _Maybe_ she was a push over, but at least she wasn't the only one in the soon-to-be O'Neill household.

**XXXX**

The rest of the day was spent getting their things ready for the next afternoon. Sam got out her dress and shoes, in order to take them with her to Cassie's dorm room, in order to take it with her to the church the next morning, and then she got out his tux and shoes, so he wouldn't miss something when she was gone. Daniel and Teal'c would be arriving around the same time as Cassie, to help him through the night alone, and Sam suspected, throw him a impromptu bachelor's party.

She was going to have to have a talk with Daniel and Teal'c before she left...

Having already forbid Cassie from making any sort of party plans, Sam wasn't too worried about what the girl might have up her sleeve. Besides, she was pregnant, and what kind of partying can a pregnant woman do? She couldn't drink or dance, really, and the only man she wanted to see strip was her husband-to-be, and well, she could have that just about any time she wanted. The girl had promised she wouldn't have anything planned, and the night would be spent watching romance movies, eating ice-cream, and obsessing over the events ahead.

They were finally finished with running around the house and getting everything in order for the day ahead, watching the forecast for the next day (something Jonas would be proud of), when the door opened and in walked Cassandra. The twenty-one year old smiled at them and set her bag down on the coffee table, before plopping down on the sofa next to Jack.

"Hi-ya," she greeted. "You two all ready for the big day?"

"Yes Cassie, we're ready," Jack replied, sighing because he had to wait five more minutes before local on the 8's finally came on. "What about you?"

She let out a deep breath and nodded, "About as ready as I will ever be."

"You're not the one getting married, why are you so nervous?"

"Because _you're_ the one's getting married," she replied. "I am very excited about this and Lord knows we've all waited long enough for this day to actually come, so it's something fairly big and very important. I just don't want anything to go wrong, at all. It should be perfect. After nearly a decade of waiting, I think perfection is something you guys deserve."

Sam nodded, "She's got a point, Jack..."

"Of course I do." Cassie said with a smile. "Are the two of you not nervous at all?"

"A little," Jack said. "But that's because I'm the one getting married. You're the maid-of-honor, you shouldn't be nervous."

Cassie shrugged and looked over at Sam, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, but I'm waiting on Daniel and Teal'c to get here before we leave. I have something that I need to talk to them about." She shrugged her shoulder and looked at the clock, "They should be here any minute now, so it won't take too long. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Cassie assured her. "I am kind of early, anyway." She glanced around the room, "Where's Pandora?"

"Last time I saw her she was asleep on the bed," Jack replied. "Just call for her and she'll come running."

"'Dora!" Cassie called out, "come here, girl!"

The jingle of a dog collar came from the hallway and then she came bounding towards the living room, jumping up on the couch and into Cassandra's lap. "Hey 'Dora," the girl greeted, petting her lovingly. "How are you doing?"

Pandora barked happily, her tail thumping against the couch.

"I'll take that as a 'good'."

Another bark, and a wet tongue against Cassie's cheek told her she was right on the mark.

"Oh, it's on!" Jack said, and the three other turned their heads towards the TV. "Beautiful," Jack said, "it's not going to be cloudy tomorrow. Now can I turn it to The Simpsons?"

Sam rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. Just then, the doorbell rang, and before anybody could call out for the people at the other end to enter, Daniel and Teal'c walked into the house. "Honey, we're home!" Daniel called out, and Pandora jumped off of the couch to greet him.

"Traitor," Cassie mumbled. "He's got allergies, you know!"

Daniel laughed and bent down to pet the dog, "I have a prescription that fixes that, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Good afternoon, Colonel Carter and O'Neill," Teal'c greeted, sitting down on the recliner.

"Hey, T," Jack greeted, his undivided attention on the TV.

Sam smiled, "Hi, Teal'c. You ready for tomorrow?"

"I am, Colonel Carter. I have brought my suit with me."

"Have you ever been in a wedding before? Besides your own, of course."

"Indeed I have, although it was much different than your's and O'Neill's will be."

"Oh?" she questioned. "How?"

He tilted his head slightly, "You would not want to know."

Knowing some of the different things they did on Chulak, Sam didn't doubt that statement. "Oh, okay."

Daniel entered the living room, Pandora at his heels. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, Sam, but what are you still doing here? I figured Cassie would have pulled you away by now..."

"I tried, she had to talk to _you_."

"Me?" he questioned. "Why?"

Sam sighed and got off of the couch, "Teal'c, would you join Daniel and me in the kitchen?"

"Indeed, I would." the large Jaffa got up from his chair and left the room, as did the two doctors. Jack didn't seem to notice an of it.

When the three where all in the kitchen, Sam turned to Daniel, "No parties, no girls, and absolutely no alcohol. The last, and I mean last, thing that I need tomorrow is a drunk fiancé. I swear to go, Daniel, if he has so much as one beer, I will get Anise drunk and tell her that you have a thing for her."

All of the color drained from his face and he coughed, "Um..."

"Not one beer."

"Sam, I mean, this is Jack we're talking about... he has at least one beer a night..."

"Not anymore he doesn't. I'm being serious here, Daniel. I will not have my wedding ruined because he's had one too many." She turned to Teal'c, "If he gets up to get one, you take it away from him, OK?"

"Indeed, Colonel Carter, I will make sure he does not consume any alcoholic beverages."

"Daniel, either."

"Indeed."

"Sam!"

She turned back to Daniel with a smile, "Yes, Daniel?"

He scowled, "Never mind..."

"Good. I'll see both of you in the morning. And I expect none of you to have hangovers."

Daniel grumbled something incoherent and Sam turned to leave the room, "And no girls." she called out as she left.

Sighing when she was gone, he turned to Teal'c and frowned. "There goes the bachelor party."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Ah! They're getting married in the next chapter! I am so not ready to write this! Oh well... I'll just have to think really hard about what's gonna happen!**

**Let me know what'cha think about it!**


	49. Chapter Forty Nine

**John Doe**

**Chapter Forty Nine**

**XXXX**

"You are _so_ getting married in the morning!" Cassie squealed, as she drove down the highway towards her dorm. "Are you not _so_ excited?" She paused for a second, then made a face, "Or _way_ nervous?" She glanced over at Sam, a smile spread across her face.

"Very excited, only a little nervous," she clarified, "keep your eyes on the road."

Cassie's eyes snapped back in front of her, just in time for her to see the red light ahead of them, and the cars slowing down. She pushed on her breaks, and Sam braced herself for the quick stop. Cassie proved to be a capable driver, though, and ended up not slamming on the breaks, and still managing not to hit the car ahead of her. Sam was relieved, and when the light turned green again, laid her hands over her stomach to sooth the now fully awake and moving around twins growing inside.

"I still can't believe you are getting married in the morning," Cassie prattled on, "and I'm _your_ bridesmaid! How wild is that? I've never been to a wedding before, much less been a part of one. That's really sad isn't it? I mean, I know I've not exactly been here for that long, but it's been about 9 years now, hasn't it? You'd think I would have at least been invited to a wedding in almost a decade... it's actually kind of depressing, if you think about it. I mean–"

"Cassie," Sam interrupted, "I haven't been to a wedding in twelve years, and the first time I was in one to one, I was 24 years old, and it was my brothers. It's not depressing, it's very normal, and is it really such a big leap that you're my bridesmaid?"

The twenty one year old was silent for a moment, and then she shook her head, "I guess I'm just really excited... and nervous, about tomorrow. I'm sorry if I was rambling."

Sam grinned and laid a hand on the girls arm, "You don't have to apologize for behind excited, Cass. I'm just glad you're so excited about it. I mean, what kind of wedding would I have if my bridesmaid was walking around grumpy because she wanted to be anywhere but there?"

"A very sucky one, I guess..."

"Exactly. So, go ahead and be perky and effervescent, but wait until you're not driving to do so. Okay?"

She laughed slightly, "Yeah. I think I can manage."

"Good... so, how about we order pizza for dinner?"

**XXXX**

"Jack, where ya goin'?" Daniel asked, when the man got up from his seat and headed for the kitchen, during the middle of his The Simpsons Season 5 disk.

"To get a beer. Want one?"

Cursing under his breath, Daniel jumped up as quick as he could and ran ahead of Jack into the kitchen. O'Neill gave him a strange look when he ran past, but wasn't very surprised. It was Daniel, anyway, and he had done a lot stranger things in his life. But, when Jack walked into the kitchen, he was a bit floored. Daniel stood in front of the refrigerator, his arms folded across his chest, and a look on his face that plainly said he'd rather be anywhere but in that room at that moment. Which, was the most confusing part of the whole thing. If he didn't want to be there, then_ why _was he there?

"Daniel...?" he questioned, giving him a 'what in the universe are you doing' look. The man sighed, but stood his ground, which still happened to be right in front of the fridge. Which was a bit annoying for Jack, seeing as the beer was actually in the fridge. "You wanna move there, Spacemonkey?"

He winced at the use of the nickname, but didn't move. "I'm sorry Jack, I promised Sam."

"You promised Sam that you would stand in front of our fridge?" he inquired, wondering why in the world he would have to make such a promise to his fiancée. "Dare I even ask _why_?"

"You don't wanna know," Daniel pointed out, shaking his head. "Trust me."

"Ooh... I think that you're wrong," Jack replied. "I do wanna know and at the moment, I'm questioning your sanity, so I think I'll pass on trusting you. At least until I'm sure you're not three fries short of a happy meal."

Sighing, he shook his head, "Okay. If you really wanna know..." pausing for a moment he thought of the best way to break it to Jack easy. "Samorderedmenottoletyouhavealcoholtonight."

"Teal'c!" Jack called, "get in here, Daniel's gone bonkers!"

A few moments later, the large Jaffa was standing next to Jack in the kitchen, a strangely amused look on his face. "I do not believe that Daniel Jackson has gone crazy, O'Neill. He is merely fulfilling a promise that he previously made to ColonelCarter."

"Ah man, not you, too." he groaned. "Alright, what in the world is this promise?" He looked pointedly at Daniel, "And say it slow enough that I can make out every word, okay Danny Boy?"

"Colonel Carter has ordered Daniel Jackson and myself to keep you from consuming any alcoholic beverages." Teal'c explained, not even blinking. "That is why Daniel Jackson is standing in front of your refrigerator."

Daniel shrunk back slightly when Jack growled, but the noise was only momentary, because as soon as the annoyed look that had unnerved him slightly passed through the General's eyes, it was replaced by a look of guilt. "Does she really think I would get drunk the night before our wedding?" he questioned, looking between Daniel and Teal'c, letting them know that either could give him an answer.

"I believe she was just being cautious, O'Neill," Teal'c informed him. "It is understandable that she be nervous about the wedding tomorrow morning. She does not wish for anything to go wrong."

"Yeah," he said, "I get that. But she still shouldn't have to force you guys to keep me from alcohol, for fear of me getting drunk." He leaned against the counters and sighed, "Do I drink _that_ much?"

"...No..."

"Truthfully?"

"Well, if I was you I'd cut back a little," Daniel supplied. "But, I'm not you, so what do I know?"

"Enough to not go through a six pack every three days, probably," he sighed. "Maybe she's right. I should cut back on drinking a little, a lot, actually. It can't be good for the babies if they're around alcohol that frequently, can it? I mean, they'd be a bit too young to pick up the habit, but why do I drink so much beer, anyway? It's not like I drink enough to get drunk, it's just there so I grab one..."

Teal'c and Daniel glanced at each other, wondering what brought on his little epiphany about drinking too much, and why Jack O'Neill was standing in his kitchen confessing it to them. Maybe the hormoines from Sam's pregnancy had somehow jumped from her body to his, and this was Jack the sap... They'd seen stranger things, that was for sure. "Um... Jack," Daniel said, "how about I get you a water and we go finish the show?"

"Huh?" O'Neill questioned, looking up at Daniel. "Oh, alright. A water. The Simpsons. Sounds good to me."

Still a bit puzzled and completely awe-struck the archeologist sighed, "How about I order some pizza?"

**XXXX**

Sam vaguely acknowledged that somebody was calling out her name softly, but she was tired and she could really care less, so she ignored the person and whatever they wanted. Besides, she had poked open one eye, and there had been no light streaming through the windows, so either it was Armageddon or it was still early morning, and her money was on the latter.

"Samantha..." the voice said again, quite exasperated, "come on you've gotta wake up." There was an annoying shoving being done to her shoulder, but again, it was still early so she ignored it. She had slept through a lot worse, so this would be no problem. "Sam come on you really have to get up, it's already six."

And Sam failed to see the point in that last statement. Yeah, it was six. That meant at least one more hour of sleep. Which meant that very rude person trying to wake her up needed to leave her alone and go back to bed. The nerve of a person to try and wake up a pregnant woman at 0600 hours, when it was her day off, no less. Now, if Sam could only remember why it was her day off, or what the important thing nagging at the back of her mind was, this would make a lot more sense. But, she was tired and her brain was still half-asleep, and she did good to even remember her name and the fact that she was with child.

"Fine," the person said finally, and Sam sighed, thinking that now she could go back to sleep. "I'll just call Jack and tell him that we're going to have to cancel the wedding because you're to lazy to get out of bed. No big deal."

The hell it wasn't a big deal. They couldn't cancel the wedding because... oh, right. She needed to wake up. "Mmm," she mumbled, "five more minutes."

"No," Cassie, which she now knew was the one who had been trying to wake her, said. "You need to get up right now, we have a lot of things to do, and there are only six hours until the wedding, seven and a half hours until the first reception, ten hours until the second reception at the SGC, and thirteen hours until you leave for the Bahamas."

Damnit, Sam thought as she sat up in the bed, raking her hand through her short, unruly hair. It was too early for this. Why hadn't they planned on having a late wedding? Not a noon wedding. Those were starting to suck. Big time, as Cassie would say. "Fine, fine, I'm awake. No need to cancel the wedding. I'm up."

"Good," the college student replied, "and it only took ten minutes. You need to get into the shower real quick so we can leave for the flower shop and pick up the dresses. We're meeting everybody at the church at ten in order to get ready, and that means by the time we get out of here, we'll have about three and a half hours to get everything picked up and ready."

"Why is it that you know more about my wedding than I do?" Sam questioned, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and sighing at the cold air that hit them. It was really too early for all of this.

Cassie smiled, and kissed her on the cheek, "Because I'm the bridesmaid, and it's my job."

**XXXX**

"General O'Neill if you do not wake up at this moment I will be forced to allow Daniel Jackson to use the pots and pans method." Teal'c told Jack, in one last attempt to wake him up without resorting to the Tauri traditions. "Very well," he sighed when Jack mumbled for him to go back to sleep, it was still dark outside. "Daniel Jackson, do as you must."

At first, the sound was unbearable and Teal'c almost had to cover his ears. Daniel took a wooden ladle and began to wack a large metal cooking pot with it, right above O'Neill's ear. It concerned him that the Tauri used such unconventional methods to wake one sleeping, but this was O'Neill, and O'Neill was nothing if not stubborn. Perhaps it was the only way. But, just in case, he had allowed Daniel Jackson to do it, instead of doing so himself.

The idea was successful, and O'Neill jolted forward at the first bang of the pot, cursing at the archeologist for being so loud. He looked around the room, a bit stunned, and highly irritated. "What the hell is going on?"

"You're late."

"Late?" he questioned, "For what?"

Teal'c imagined that the word one would use to describe O'Neill at that moment was 'dense'. "For your wedding, O'Neill."

That seemed to be the right words to say, because he jumped out of bed and started to tear off his clothes. "It's still dark outside," he said, whilst taking off his shirt, "how can it still be dark outside at noon?" He headed for his pants, and Daniel stopped him.

"Not late for the actual wedding, Jack. It's almost 6:45. You're let for the preparation."

He cursed again, and Teal'c wondered if all Tauri weddings began this way. "Should you not shower quickly, O'Neill?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Yeah. I'll be out before 0700. I promise. Is there any coffee?"

"I'll get you a cup ready. We're leaving out here at seven, so you'd better be out there. I don't think Sam would be very fond of marrying Teal'c or me, and she'd probably kill us both if we got you there late, sober though you may be."

Jack gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't funny, and Daniel held his hands up in defense. "What's takin' you so long, man? Get into the shower." And with that, he turned and left the room, Teal'c at his heels, wondering how things were going on Sam and Cassie's end.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Ok, so the wedding isn't in this chapter. It will probably be in the next. If not then the one after that. I really hadn't planned on this story getting anywhere near 50 chapters, and now it looks as if I am going to surpass that. Wow! I am amazed. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know how I'm doing. As I have said before, I live for feedback, and it most cases, it makes me post quicker.  
**


	50. Wow Chapter Fifty

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty**

**XXXX**

Cassie pulled her car into the church's parking lot five minutes before 1000 hours, and Sam nearly panicked when she didn't see Jack's truck, nor was Daniel's CR-V or Teal'c's regular black Suburban anywhere in sight. Telling her that they were probably almost there, Cassie did her best to calm her down. Besides, she reminded her, there were still two hours left until the wedding. And, while that made sense in the college students mind, it caused Sam to freak out even more.

"That's it?" she questioned, running her hand through her short, blonde hair. "Just two hours left? That can't be it..." she looked overwhelmed, a feeling that Cassie hadn't thought she knew. Here was a woman who had saved the world countless amounts of times, and had even blown up a sun (which Jack had slipped to her once), and she was panicking because she only had two hours until she got married. It was a bit strange, if you asked her, but then again, she had never been married before so she had no idea of what Sam had to be going through.

"You'll be just fine," the girl assured her. "Come on now, before they get here. We need to get all of your girls together and get into your dress. Okay?"

Sam nodded, looking around the parking lot, to see who all had arrived thus far. The rental car that she knew was her brothers (because who else would have rented an Outback but Tracie) was sitting closer to the church than Cassie had parked, and next to it was a red Malibu, which she figured was the car her cousins had driven. That left Daniel, Teal'c, and Bra'tac. Of course, Jack still had to arrive, and Sam was fairly sure that the four would end up showing together.

As they walked into the large church, Sam looked over at Cassie, "Would you call him, please? Just to make sure?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess I can do that." She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number, then waited for a few seconds. Obviously, it was Daniel who picked up the phone, "Hey, Daniel, how far away are you guys from Higher Ground?... Oh, alright... Yeah, Sam was getting worried... Ok, I'll see you in a few, then." She hung up the phone and looked at Sam, "They're at the light, as we speak."

Sighing, Sam looked around the church. It was beautiful, done up in white and silver. But that wasn't what she was concerned with at the moment, waiting in the front pews were her brother, his wife, and their kids, along with her two cousins Andrea and Isabelle. She smiled at them and hurried down the isle, as they stood to greet her. Hugging her brother, she felt tears stinging at the backs of her eyelids and closed them tightly to keep the liquid from flowing. Damn hormones.

"We should go and start getting ready," she told him, as she pulled out of the hug.

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek, "You look great, little sister."

Laughing, she rested her hand on the bulge of her stomach. "I'm not 'little' anymore, Mark." She sat down on the pew and pulled Joshua into her lap, who was staring at her stomach in surprise. He reached out and laid his hand on it, and one of the twins kicked in response to the touch. Recoiling in surprise he looked up at her, his eyes wide.

"Auntie Sam... _what_ was that?" he asked, shocked.

The adults laughed, and Sam took his hand and placed it back over her stomach, "That was the baby, Joshie. One of them, at least." She smiled as the baby kicked once more, and his eyes got even bigger than before.

"_That's_ the baby?"

She nodded, "Yup." Looking around at the others, she asked, "Does anybody else want to feel?" Her eyes narrowed on her niece, "Elizabeth?"

Liz nodded shyly and sat down beside Sam, placing her hand next to her brothers, just as another kick landed. The girl jumped slightly, then blushed, embarrassed at the reaction. "Wow," she told her. "It's really strong."

Nodding, Sam stood back up, letting Joshua down on the floor. "We should probably rush me off to a back room before my husband-to-be gets here. Cassie would freak if he saw me before the wedding."

The twenty one year old smiled sheepishly, then nodded, "We really should go and get ready..."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, and then started to file out of the room, headed to their respective dressing areas. Cassie, Sam, Andrea, Isabelle, Elizabeth, and Tracie all gathered in one of the larger classrooms, and since the church itself was huge, they had plenty of breathing room. The men were across the building, in a room almost the same size. Cassie had picked both out, saying the further away they were from each other, the better.

It was fifteen minutes after ten, they had roughly an hour and a half to finish getting ready, which would only require changing, as they had all already gotten their hair and makeup done. Nonetheless, in no more than two hours time, Sam and Jack would be getting married.

Looking around the room, that very thought on her mind, Sam inhaled deeply, "Is it getting hot in here?"

**XXXX**

At almost the same time, Jack was being led into his dressing room by his brother-to-be. With him was Teal'c, Daniel, and Bra'tac. Back at the SGC, Hammond was busy explaining the rituals of Tau'ri weddings to the other-world humans and humanoid aliens that would be attending the service. Among those were a few Tok'ra, Jonas Quinn, and various Jaffa. Feeling sympathy for his old friend, Jacob Carter had volunteered to stay a few minutes extra to help, before he, himself had to leave to change, being one of the most important people in the wedding besides the bride and groom.

Teal'c and Bra'tac had already been cued in on what their jobs would be, who they would be walking down the isle, and they knew where they would be standing. Teal'c would walk Isabelle and Bra'tac would walk with Andrea. Mark would walk with his wife, and Daniel would walk with Cassie. And of course, Joshua and Elizabeth would walk down together, first of all of them.

He had vainly hoped he would catch a glimpse of Sam before he was whisked away to the changing room, but they informed him that Cassie had already hurried her away, to keep that very thing from happening. When Jacob arrived he would send him in as a mole, because, really, who could refuse a father his last chance to see his little girl before he gave her away?

"Are you nervous?" Daniel questioned, as he began dressing. "I mean, you're getting married in like an hour and a half, to_ Sam_. If that's not overwhelming, I don't know what is."

Jack snorted, hell yeah it was overwhelming, but on the other hand, he had never been so sure of anything, ever. And there had been plenty of other times that he had been extremely confident. "I'm still waiting for her to decide that she's too good for me." he admitted, buttoning up his shirt.

Mark smiled, doing the same, "Trust me, she won't. Tracie still hasn't, and we've been married for almost ten years now. All I know is my baby sister has never been as happy as she is now, and that has to count for a whole lot of something."

The older man nodded, hoping that his soon-to-be brother-in-law was correct and Sam wasn't going to back out on him. It then occurred to him how stupid he was behaving, of course she wasn't going to decided not to go through with the wedding. If anything, because she was pregnant. That had to count for something right? If she was willing to have a child with him, let alone two, then he must be doing something right. Telling himself that that made perfect sense, a smile appeared on his face and he went forth with dressing.

Five or so minutes later, Jacob Carter walked through the door, his dress blues in hand. Jack himself was wearing his own, feeling more comfortable in them than a tux. Before the man could begin to change, Jack walked over to him. "I got an idea, dad," he said, earning a look from Jacob. "Oh come on, I've called you it before," when Jacob shrugged he continued, "I can't go see Sam, Cassie would probably murder me on the spot, but there's no way she'd turn you down." When Jacob gave him an incredulous look and began to disagree, Jack spoke up once more. "You're her father, Jake," he said, "and she's about to become my wife, not your little girl. This is your last chance to see her before you give her away, what kind of person would say no?"

Jacob sighed, "You have a point..."

Beaming, Jack nodded, "I've thought this over a lot."

"What is it you're wanting me to do?" he questioned, hanging up his bag.

"Just go talk to her, she how she's doing..." he shrugged, "let her know that I'm here and that I love her. And, see your little girl, whatever it is you want to say to her and all that father-daughter stuff. I know Sam, and she probably needs that right now."

Giving him a look that plainly said he knew his daughter didn't need him for anything, Jacob nodded, "Alright. I'll go. Fifteen minutes, though. I have to get ready still."

"Of course you do," Jack agreed, shooing him out the door.

"Tell Sam we all said hi!" Daniel called out after Jacob, sitting down in a chair, since he was ready. "Let's just hope that Cassie thinks the same way you do," he sighed, looking at Jack pointedly. Nodding, Jack put his jacket on the back of a chair and sat down as well. Everybody knew Cassie had taken most of the preparations into her hands, and she had read up on Tau'ri wedding traditions very extensively, so there was no telling what she would and wouldn't allow.

"Yeah," he said, "but he's her father..."

**XXXX**

Jacob almost got lost on his way to the women's dressing room. He rapped lightly on the door, not surprised when Cassie was the one to answer it. She was in her dress already, and Jacob was floored by how mature she looked, and how much she had grown since the last time he'd seen her. She smiled at him and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. "You look great, Cass," he told her. "Your mother would be so proud."

"Thank you, Jacob," she replied. "You're not dressed."

"I know," he told her. "I was just wondering if I could see my little girl for a few minutes, you know, before I have to give her away." He knew he was putting on a puppy dog look, something a man at his age should never do, but Cassie was a hard negotiator.

"Jack sent you," she mused, "didn't he?"

"Well, kind of sort of," Jacob replied. "I was already planning on coming over here, myself, but I'm gonna let him take the credit for it." Which was the truth. Of course Jacob had wanted to see his daughter before she got married off. "Please. Ten minutes, that's all I'm asking for."

She sighed, looking around the hallway, making sure that Jack wasn't hiding behind a corner to pop out when Sam showed up. "He's not anywhere around here, is he?" she questioned of the retired general.

"Nope, he's getting dressed as we speak."

"Okay," she agreed, "ten minutes. There's a empty room next door that should be unlocked, you two can go in there and talk." She disappeared into the room for a minute or so, and then Sam emerged, still wearing her regular clothes, and launched herself at him before he could even get a chance to speak. She hugged him tightly, and he smiled, hugging her back.

"Come on, Sammie," he told her, leading her to the empty room, "we wouldn't want Cassie coming after us for not obeying her orders, would we?"

Laughing, Sam nodded and followed him, "No... no, we definitely don't want that happening."

**XXXX**

**A/N: So once again, the wedding has been delayed a chapter. They're hard things to right, you know? Anyway, let me know what you think of it, and hopefully this next chapter will come out a lot sooner than this one did. It's summer you know, and I've been busy, but I'm trying... Well, then, review please!**


	51. Chapter Fifty One

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty One**

**XXXX**

Jacob led Sam into a empty room, next to the one where she was getting ready in. "You sure you wanna do this, Sammie?" he asked. "I mean, this is Jack we're talking about. He's not the smartest crayon in the box, short tempered, impatient, and grumpy..."

Sam grinned, "No offense dad, but you don't have the best temper either, you patience is ten times worse than his, and you're grumpy _and_ old. But I still love you."

"Yeah, well that's not the same."

"I should hope not." she joked. "But to answer your question, yeah. I'm absolutely positive that this is right for me and come on, I'm only a few years away from the big 4-0... I think I've waited long enough to get married."

He sighed, "I guess I'm just not ready to lose my baby girl so shortly after I found her again."

Feeling tears sting at the backs of her eyelids she stepped forward and hugged him tightly, "You're not going to lose me, dad. If anything, you'll be around more, because of the twins."

"Ah, yes... little Jacob and Janet Carter O'Neill."

Sam laughed, "Don't get your hopes up, dad. I'm not so sure we're even going to name them after anybody. Except, Jack wants our little girl to be named after Janet, and I agree. Jacob Carter O'Neill, though... I don't know."

"Come on, Sam," he said, "Jacob's a good, strong name."

"We'll see."

He frowned, but kissed her on the forehead anyway. "I guess that's a good enough answer for me. Now, I have to do a check up for Jack. No cold feet, right?"

"They're warm and toasty," she promised.

"You don't feel the need to run anywhere?"

"You mean, besides down the isle?"

"Aren't having flashes of all your past boyfriends...?"

She shook her head, "Most of them are dead, anyway."

Jacob nodded, "Good enough for me. I'll let him know, he's kind of nervous."

"He's not getting cold feet, is he?"

The look her father gave her clearly said she was crazy for even thinking it. "Of course not. He's getting ready to marry _you_."

Rolling her eyes, she hugged him one last time, "Now get out of here before I start to cry and ruin my makeup. And then, Cassie would really come after you. And I don't want that. You've got to walk me down the isle, and it just wouldn't look right if you were limping."

He sighed, "You're probably right. I've got to go get ready anyway, and you need to get into that dress of yours. There's some kind of wedding going on in an hour and a half, you know?"

**XXXX**

Jack was seconds from leaving to go find his soon to be father-in-law, when the man in question came walking through the door. He smiled at the slightly flustered look his daughter's fiancé was wearing, and walked over to him. "She's doing just fine, Jack," he promised. "No cold feet, no urge to run away, and she's not thinking of any of the dead boyfriends."

Giving him a look, Jack asked, "What about the live ones?"

"Them either."

"How's she look?"

"She wasn't dressed yet, Jack. Sorry. You're gonna have to wait to see it, along with the rest of us."

"I've seen it," Daniel piped in, even though everyone of the men in the room already knew so. Jack had already interrogated him to know what it looked like, and the archeologist had told him, in language of the Aztecs. Jack had been none too happy about that.

"Yeah, we know," he sighed, getting up from his chair and pacing the length of the room. "I'm going to go crazy just sitting in here and waiting," he told everybody else. "There's still more than an hour to go and I've got nothing to do..."

"Why don't you go see who all has arrived?" Daniel suggested. "Take Murray with you. Hammond should be here sometime soon." Which, was just another way of telling him to go and check out how the "aliens" were doing with the traditional wedding behavior.

Teal'c was still getting ready, but Bra'tac volunteered to go, that way he could speak with some of the Jaffa that had decided to attend. Among them, Rya'c and Kar'yn. Jack reluctantly agreed to go, knowing that he would be asked a billion questions, but at least it would take his mind off of the short amount of time that was left. The two left the room and headed for the Sanctuary.

"You look nice, Bra'tac," Jack said, as they walked down the halls of the Church. He was wearing a tux, along with a hat to cover his symbol of Apophis. As they walked, Jack briefly wondered how the female Jaffa were to cover up their symbols, or if they even had.

"As do you, O'Neill." the older man replied. "I wish to congratulate you on you marriage to Samantha Carter, she is a fine warrior and a brilliant scientist."

"You got a crush on my fiancée, Bra'tac?" Jack asked, jokingly. The man looked over at him, confused.

"A 'crush', O'Neill?"

Shaking his head, Jack replied, "Never mind. It was a joke. A bad joke."

Bra'tac nodded, obviously he could believe that Jack had simply made a bad joke. "Very well."

"Well, in any case, thank you."

"You are very welcome, O'Neill," Bra'tac informed him as they entered the Sanctuary. The first to notice the two was Hammond, and he left the group of 'out-of-townees' to greet the two men.

"Jack, Bra'tac," he said with a relieved sigh. "Why are you two in here?"

"We just came to check on... everyone." he looked pointedly at the group of aliens. "How goes... they?"

Hammond turned to look at the men and women in question, "They've got a lot of questions about the wedding traditions of the Tau'ri, and they're getting a bit impatient, but other than that, nobody seems suspicious or curious about them at all. Except, Ry'ac and Kar'yn don't have anything to cover their emblem's and they've gotten a few weird looks. But, as far as I can tell, people just assume they're some weird tattoos. Jonas Quinn is, by far, the most normal in this situation. He informed me before I began the explanations that he had already read up on our traditions when he was working under my command at the SGC..."

Jack nodded, that was believable. The man had to tear himself away from the weather channel every now and then. Jonas, who had already noticed Jack and Bra'tac, as well as the three men looking in his direction, got up from his seat and headed in their direction. "General O'Neill," he greeted with a grin, extending his hand. "It's good to see you again."

Shaking his hand, Jack nodded. "You, as well. I know I speak for Sam, as well, when I say that I'm glad you could make it."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," the man replied. "This is my first Tau'ri wedding."

"I assumed as much."

"How is Sam?" Hammond questioned. "Have you heard?"

"Nah, Jacob went and saw her a little while ago... he let me know she's not going to pull a Julia Roberts on me and run."

The joke seemed to be lost on Bra'tac and Jonas, but Hammond smiled. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"A little, but I guess that's normal," he shrugged. "I'm just ready to get this done and over with. The wait has been killing me."

"Well, you don't have much longer," Jonas said. "There's just a little over an hour now."

Jack sighed, "Well... I'd better go around and greet a few people before heading back to finish getting ready..."

Jonas nodded and returned to his seat, and Bra'tac excused himself to speak with some of the Jaffa. "This has been a long time coming, Jack," Hammond said with a smile. "After all these years... you've got to be relieved that it's finally happening."

"I've never been so relieved in my life, George. I figured she'd get married to some idiot not worth her time years ago. Never in my life would I have guessed I'd end up being that idiot."

"Well, she seems to think you're worth her time."

"Lord only knows why."

Hammond laughed slightly, "I'd better get back to my seat, Jack. Congratulations."

"Thanks, George," Jack replied, heading over to where some of the guests were sitting. This was going to be a long, long hour.

**XXXX**

"Does my hair look alright?" Sam questioned, after staring in the mirror for more than five minutes. "Something doesn't look right to me."

"It's perfect, Samantha," Isabelle told her, for the third time. "Stop worrying, you look amazing."

Standing in front of the large mirror, Sam felt insecure, no matter how many people told her she looked great. She had her dress on, make-up done, hair fixed, and all that was left to do was put on her vale and shoes. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive," Isabelle replied. "Stop worrying so much. Who in their right mind could ever think you didn't look beautiful?"

Sam wanted to tell her that there had definitely been a few times where she had been anything but, however they all consisted of off-world missions and therefore she had to keep it all to herself. Looking over at Cassie, she smiled, now _she_ looked amazing. The dresses she had picked out were simple, a light lilac color, satin, floor-length, and strapless. When given the choice of whether or not to have a shaw all of the women had decided against it. Her hair was curled, with half of it up, and two strands hanging in the front.

Sam looked back in the mirror, and wondered what Jack would think of her own dress. She had looked for more than a week before coming across it, and the moment she had tried it on, she knew it was what she wanted. It had fit her perfectly then, but with months of baby-growth it had to be tailored slightly. But, she thought it was beautiful and hoped he would as well.

"How much longer do we have?" she questioned, looking around the room, though she knew there was no clock on the walls. Andrea pulled out her cell phone, and checked the time.

"Just over half an hour, Sam. Be patient, we leave here in around twenty five minutes."

She sat down in a chair carefully, "That long?"

The others nodded.

Elizabeth, who was growing impatient of all the waiting, was twirling around in her flower girl dress, which was the same color and style as the bridesmaids, only with spaghetti straps. Her hair was packed with baby breath and up in a bun, compliments of her mother. "Auntie Sam?" she questioned, going around in another circle, "What are you naming your babies?"

Looking at the little girl she sighed, "We haven't decided yet, honey."

"Oh, come on," Isabelle said, "you have to have a few ideas."

Tracie decided to join in, "Yeah, we had about five different choices for Liz before we picked hers out. What's on your list?"

"Well, for the little boy, I like Cameron or Nathaniel. Jack likes Aaron and Hayden."

"What about the middle name?" Andrea asked.

"Well, don't tell dad, but we already decided on Jacob."

"Nathaniel Jacob... that sounds the best..."

"Well?" Isabelle asked. "What about the girl? She's gotta have a name, too."

Sam smiled, "We've already decided her name. Grace."

From one seat over, Cassie gasped. "Are you serious?"

The others looked at the huge grin on Sam's face, then the tear-clouded eyes of Cassie, and were fairly confused. "What's wrong with Grace?" Tracie asked.

"Nothing's wrong with it," Cassie assured them. "It was my mom's middle name."

The others got a look of realization on their face, except for Liz, who was still confused. All the adults had known Janet had been Sam's best friend, so it made perfect sense that they would name their daughter after her. "We would have named her Janet, but Airman Wells beat us to that. So we decided that Grace was just as beautiful. Although, we're still fighting over the middle name."

"What are the options?"

"Nichole from me, and Lynne from Jack."

"I like Grace Lynne," Tracie said, causing Sam to frown.

"Yeah, it's pretty..." she agreed.

Tracie smiled at her sister-in-law, "I also said I liked Nathan better. Don't be so greedy."

Sam laughed, "Well... we've still got months to figure it out. But, I mean it guys, you can't tell my dad about it. His head will swell the size of Texas and we'll never be able to get it back down, besides, we want it to be a surprise."

The others nodded. Her secret was safe with them.

For the time being, at least.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Gosh, I really need to figure out how to assume things better. Because, so far, I've been wrong in all of my guesses. I thought this story would end at 25 chapters, here I am, over 50 with a lot more to go... and I thought the wedding would have been two chapters ago, and we're still not there yet. Sorry guys. It'll be soon, I know that much! Please review!**


	52. Chapter Fifty Two

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty Two**

**Authors Note: Nah, 'Dora isn't going to be in the wedding. It would be cute, though. And no aliens freaking out, either. Things are going to go well for a change! Yay.**

**Ack. Forewarning, this is a really sappy chapter, even before you get to the wedding part!**

**XXXX**

Jack was slowly becoming more and more impatient. With only half an hour left to go before his marriage to Sam, time was ticking all too slowly. The last thirty minutes had seemed an eternity to him, and all of those around him, as well. Daniel and Teal'c were used to the complaints, and Jacob and Bra'tac had grown somewhat accustom to it over the many years each knew the man, but for Mark it was brand new, and very annoying.

"Could you sit down, for five minuets?" the man asked, finally. "You're making me anxious!"

The others nodded in agreement, they too were getting tired of all the pacing he had been doing. Not that they wouldn't be behaving the same, were they in his situation, most of them had been worse than such before their weddings. Jacob recalled nearly hitting his soon-to-be brother-in-law because he would not allow him access to his bride-to-be, and Daniel had been in a panic before his "ceremony" with Sha're, because he had misplaced his glasses and could barely see a thing.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, as he sat down in a spare chair. "I'm just really, really nervous. I mean, Sam is just... she's _way_ too good for me, and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, I guess."

"Still?" Daniel asked, puzzled by his friends lack of self esteem. "You can't really think like that_ now_. She's pregnant with your twins, Jack, if that doesn't tell you that you fit up to her standards, then I don't know what would. Women don't just pick any average joe off of the street to father their children, you know."

"Indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c responded, "the same as the incident many years ago, when under _outside influence _Samantha Carter singled you out as the alpha male and attempted to–"

Jack looked nervously at Jacob and Mark Carter, not certain he wanted the two to know about the 'touched' incident. "That's okay, Teal'c, I get the picture now. She _thinks_ that I meet her standards. That doesn't mean she's right."

"Are you kidding me?" Jacob questioned. "My Sammie has one of the most brilliant minds on this planet. She rarely ever makes a bad choice, and never when it comes to something of this magnitude. Face it, Jack, you're a good person. You're just going to have to learn to deal with that, no matter how horrible it may be."

A defiant smile tugged at the corners of Jack's lips, as he wondered where Jacob had picked up his sense of humor. Perhaps it was the work of Selmac. He would have to ask Sam about it one of these days. "Thanks, dad."

"You realize how strange that sounds, considering you're merely fourteen years younger than I am." the elder man replied.

"Whoa," Jack said with a grin, "atta boy, Jacob. Early bloomer, eh?"

"Ha ha." his very soon-to-be father-in-law laughed sarcastically. "Better than being a late bloomer, I suppose. Right, _dad_?"

Well, yeah, the man had a point. Forty nine was a bit old to start having children, but in his defense, the twins weren't his first. Nearly pointing that fact out, Jack decided to keep his thoughts to himself. No use bringing up old haunts on such a happy day, as it were. Besides, all in the room knew of Charlie, so there was no need to point the fact out.

"Well, if that's not a great big 'welcome to the family', I don't know what is," he stated jokingly.

"Don't be silly, Jack," Jacob replied. "You've been part of this family for years now."

Telling himself that men did not cry, especially in front of their father and brother-in-law, not to mention two of the most stoic people in the history of stoicism, Jack managed to hold back the tears stinging at his eyelids. "Thank you, Jacob. That means a lot to me."

Nodding, Jacob Carter allowed an affectionate smile to play on his face. "You're welcome, son."

**XXXX**

Sam had to keep herself from looking at the clock, because every time she did, she grew more and more disappointed. There were still twenty odd minutes until her wedding, and she just wanted to get it over with and head to the Bahamas with her husband. She had been sitting in the same spot for nearly fifteen minutes and her backside was becoming numb, and she was slightly surprised by that fact. With all the cushion her dress was providing she didn't know how her skin could feel the sensation of any sort of contact.

"So, have you decided when the baby shower is going to be, yet?" Tracie asked, letting the awkward silence in the room slip away.

"No," Sam replied, a bit bored of small talk. "Since we've still got so many months left, we haven't really thought about anything like that."

"But you've already got the nursery finished?" this was from Isabelle.

"Yeah," she replied with a grin of remembrance. "Jack finished it while I was out of town. It's amazing, he painted the ceiling to look like the night sky." A bit of a frown appeared on her face, "Although, he somehow managed to make one constatation look like the face of Homer Simpson. I hope the babies don't get frightened by it, or worse, become fond of it."

The women laughed, while Cassie just smiled, since she had already seen the room, and been a part of the conversation over the likeness of Homer's face on the ceiling. Sam had been none to pleased about it, although she had been amazed that her fiancé could make something so realistic looking. And she had to be thankful that he hadn't asked Teal'c to help and drawn Chubaka or Yoda. That would certainly frighten the babies.

"I'd like to see it one day," Andrea mused. "You should take pictures of it or something, maybe a home movie."

Sam nodded, she could always barrow one of Daniel's many camcorders, or buy one of her own. She found it odd that she didn't have one, until she remembered that she had, and when bored one day during downtime disfigured it, only to lose a key component. After that, it had been useless, and Daniel wouldn't let her within ten feet of his.

Speaking of Daniel, well, thinking of him, really, she wondered how Jack and the guys were doing with the wait.

**XXXX**

"Just under ten minutes left, Jack," General Hammond informed him, after knocking on the men's dressing room door. "The priest is asking that you head out to the sanctuary now, to continue waiting there."

Taking a deep breath, Jack got up from the chair that had been holding him hostage, and followed Hammond out the door, and through the corridors, on the tricky path to the sanctuary. "Thank you for everything, George," he said once more. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"It was my pleasure, son," the man replied, with his comforting Texas drawl. "I wish I could have done more."

Feeling the brief need to embrace the man, Jack kept his arms to his side. Perhaps later, at one of the receptions, he would express his gratitude with a hug, but not walking through the halls of Higher Ground Baptist Church, mere minutes away from the beginning of his wedding. Instead, he smiled warmly as they parted ways, Hammond back to his seat on the front row, where Jack's parents would have sat, were they alive, and Jack to his spot at the head of the isle.

Pesky butterflies found the opportunity to flutter in his chest, causing Jack's feeling of nervousness to rise to def con level two. This was actually about to happen. He was really, in reality, about to marry Carter.

_Whoa._

How long he had been standing there, he did not know. All he was aware of, was that after a short amount of time, the traditional 'dum dum dum dum' filled the air around him, sending the butterflies currently taking up residence in his stomach to panic, and he, himself, to do so consequently. His _very_ soon-to-be niece made her way down the isle, throwing out white rose petals, with pink tips. Sam's favorite.

The first to follow her, besides her brother, who had accompanied her down the isle, were the maid-of-honor and best-man, Cassie and Daniel. Daniel was wearing the traditional tux, and Cassie had on her special 'maid-of-honor' dress, which was different from the bridesmaids. Pale lilac, strapless (which he had fought against) and to-the-floor hem. To Jack's disliking, it was very shapely, and showed the curves that the girl, woman, had acquired in her twenty one years of life.

Following her were Tracie and Mark. Mark worse a tux as well, and Tracie wore a dress much like Cassie's, only a light, non metallic silver, with thin straps. It was the same as all the other bridesmaids.

After her, Andrea and Teal'c, a quite odd looking couple. Teal'c, in his large, muscular Jaffa ways, seemed to overpower the petite woman, only five foot four, and maybe 110 pounds, probably less. Nonetheless, he walked with her with a strange sort of grace, and it looked fairly natural. As if he had been participating in weddings of this nature for years.

The last to walk down the isle were Bra'tac and Isabelle, who Jack knew had to feel left out, stuck with the eldest man of all. If only she knew how many years her senior Bra'tac really was! If only Andrea had any inkling that Teal'c was well over 100 years plus her age! Jack hid a smile.

The music grew louder, as Isabelle and Bra'tac took their spaces, and from the empty doorway, Sam emerged. Jack was suddenly breathless, amazed by her beauty. The dress was a slightly off white color, which was hardly a noticeable fact, strapless, with what he knew was a cathedral train. From what little she had told him, he was already privy to the fact that it was made of satin. The beaded embroidery was silver, and lined her square neckline and train, as well as covered the bodice in an almost triangular shape. On her, it was arguably the most beautiful wedding dress ever. At least, that would be his opinion.

Her vale did not cover her face, at her request, and as quickly as she had appeared, Jacob was at her side. They walked down the isle slowly, Jacob grinning from ear to ear, although still not at a match for Jack's smile, or Sam's. She had the makings of tears in her eyes, which he knew she would blame on hormones at a later hour, and he was fighting back his own. He couldn't believe they were actually about to get married.

When she was finally near the end of the isle, Jacob kissed her cheek and they parted ways. Jack took a step forward, and replaced her father by her side, entwining his arm with hers. They walked together up the steps to stand in front of the priest.

Letting their arms drop, he gave her hand a light squeeze, as he turned to face her. As the priest began his speech, "dearly beloved, we are gathered here today" and blah, blah, blah, Jack found it hard to focus on anything but the beautiful, deep blue of her eyes, and how they shimmered with her lightly falling tears. Gently brushing them away with his thumb, he made himself pay attention to the priest once more.

"Who gives this woman away?" he was asking.

"I do," Jacob said, standing up briefly. The priest smiled at him, and then Jacob sat once again.

A man of little words, Jack had decided not to do his own vows, but instead follow the traditional ones. Sam agreed, not needing any more stress than she already had in her life. However, Tracie had suggested something to them, and they had decided to follow her advice.

"Jonathan," the priest was saying, "do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for long as you both shall live?"

Smiling broadly, he nodded, "I do."

"And Samantha, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live."

Going against every one of his previous theories, Sam's smile grew larger than Jack's as she replied, "I do."

"I understand that there is something you wish to say together?" the priest, who's name was Anderson, asked.

They nodded, and in unison, while staring directly into each others eyes, said; "Entreat me not to leave you, or return from following after you. For where you go, I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. And where you die I will die and there will I be buried. May the Lord do with me and more if anything but death parts you and me."

When the passage was over, they turned to the priest, who had the rings in his hands. "Take these rings and repeat after me."

Jack took Sam's ring, and she did otherwise. Sam went first.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

Sliding the ring onto his finger, she repeated, "With this ring, I thee wed."

Jack then did the same, sliding the ring onto her finger and repeating after the priest, "With this ring, I thee wed."

Smiling, the priest concluded the ceremony, "It is my honor to be the first to announce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan O'Neill." He looked over at Jack, and with a broad grin, said, "You may now kiss your bride."

Without a moments hesitation, he pulled Sam to him, and their lips met in a passionate, but guarded, embrace. When they pulled apart, an uproar of applause filled the air, and a few catcalls that Jack and Sam instantly recognized as coming from the SG-3 marines. With sheepish smiles they walked down the isle, hand in hand, for the first time as husband and wife.

**XXXX**

**A/N: If anything about the wedding wasn't status quo, I apologize. I've only been to a handful of weddings, and the last one which I attended was over two years ago. Their shared vows is from Ruth, a chapter in the bible. Anyway... please let me know how I did on the wedding, because it was stressing me out. The next chapter might no be out for awhile, because I'm going to North Carolina Thursday morning, and won't be getting back until sometime Sunday... I'll bring my laptop with me, and hopefully be able to write another chapter, but I'm not sure. Anyway... review please! Be fairy nice!**


	53. Chapter Fifty Three

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty Three**

**Authors Note: Oh, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry guys, I was out of town, then I wrote the next chapters for my other two stories before finally getting to write this, and it didn't help that I had to work everyday this week, except for today (Thursday). Sorry again!**

**XXXX**

The first reception was only an hour after the wedding, giving Sam and Jack no time to change out of their clothes before getting there. It went as normal receptions do, and there were no problems from the alien end. Although, the Jaffa were asked a few questions about their strange "tattoo's". They simply claimed they were tribal tattoo's, from their native lands. After saying this, nobody felt the need to ask about their strange mannerisms. They were _foreign_, that explained everything.

It was a short reception, by most standards. Since they had another to attend (unbeknownst to the humans at the first) they just claimed they had an early fight to catch. Which, in some ways, they did. Both receptions were only two hours long, and as soon as the second was over they had to drive out to the airport and fly to Florida. From then they would find their cruise ship, and head to the Bahamas for four days and three nights.

After the first reception was through, Sam and Jack drove to the SGC, where they made a quick appearance while still in their wedding clothes, before changing into something more comfortable, and much cooler. By that time, all of those who had been to the wedding and first reception had been long since changed.

Jack was the first to admit he was much more fond of the second reception than the first. For one thing, Thor was there, and Thor was his little buddy. For another thing, none of Sam's family (besides her father, of course) had clearance to know anything about the Stargate, so none where there. However, he could have done without some of the Tok'ra being there. Namely, Anise and Freya, but for the most part the symbiote had control of the shared body, and Anise had a thing for Daniel, not him. He felt slightly bad for the archeologist, for the female Tok'ra, who didn't take the occasion to dress a bit more appropriately, was his shadow for nearly the entire evening. But then again... as long as it wasn't him.

"So the CO and 2IC of this base are both O'Neill's," a marine was commenting, "if that doesn't sound like a conspiracy, I don't know what does."

The earthlings, which Jack still got a kick out of referring to himself as, along with a few other-world humans, cracked a smile, while most of the true aliens seemed lost. "Actually," Sam explained, "while we're both still working here, I'm going to just stay 'Carter'. That's only at the SGC though, everywhere else I'm an O'Neill... that way it won't be so confusing."

Jack shot her a look, as if to ask why she felt the need to explain that when the man was only joking. She merely smiled at him, knowing him well enough to see into his thoughts. They broke away from the crowd of SGC personnel and headed towards a smaller cluster of people, including Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Cassandra Fraiser, Jacob Carter, General Hammond, and Bra'tac.

Daniel was the first to notice that they were headed in their direction. He smiled at them, motioning to the others what was going on. Most of them turned, sans Bra'tac and Teal'c, who stood engaged in a conversation. Probably some important Jaffa thing, Jack guessed.

"How long do you have before you leave?" Cassie asked, as Sam walked up to her and stood by her side, Jack directly next to her.

"About half an hour," she replied with a frown. "You'll be okay watching 'Dora, right?"

Cassie nodded, "My friends and I have a fairly nice backyard. She'll be fine– I don't forget to feed animals." Looking pointedly at Daniel she continued, "Or myself."

The archeologist rolled his eyes, "I do _not _forget to eat."

"But you_ do_ forget to feed Pandora when she stays with you," Jack added. "And you can't deny that."

He just shrugged in response. "Tired of being mauled?"

Jack glanced around the room, as if looking for somebody, "Are you?"

Getting the point, Daniel sighed, "I can't help it, Jack. The host likes you."

Sam and Cassie stopped their conversation, "Well, the host can no longer even think about what she wants, so I'm sure you're the next best thing..."

"Gee, Sam," Daniel said, "thanks so much."

She shrugged her shoulders, "He's my husband– what can I say?"

**XXXX**

Forty five minutes later, they were standing in a freakishly long line, leading to the airport security station. Sam calculated that there were at least thirty five people ahead of them, and they would end up in line for well over an hour and a half. It was a good thing they had made sure to get to the airport early, otherwise they would miss their flight.

Unfortunately for Sam, the twins took that moment, while they were standing in line with no where to go and sit down, to start fighting. Feet and fists were coming at her from all directions, and she had to lean on her husband (which might as well be Jack's new name) to keep from doubling over from the pain. He brought his arms around her stomach, resting them on the bulge that was his son and daughter, and began to gently rub it. Most of the time it seemed to calm the twins, so maybe now it would, as well.

"How do you feel?" he asked, placing a kiss on the curve of her neck.

"Horrible," she groaned, laying her hands atop his. "But, strangely upbeat." She couldn't see his face, but there was no doubt in her mind that he was smiling.

"Well, at least there's that."

She grinned, leaning up against him, "The girls decided that they like the name Nathaniel best."

"Hmm," he mumbled. "And what about our little princess' middle name?"

Sam's replied incoherently.

"What was that, babe?"

"They liked Lynne."

"Oh," he said, a bit smugly. "They did, eh?"

"Jack..."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, dear."

**XXXX**

"Daniel Jackson," a familiar, but unwanted, voice called out, as the archeologist began to leave the SGC later that night. Sighing to himself, he forced a smile and turned around to face the Tok'ra who had summoned him.

"Anise?" he asked, making sure he was speaking to the symbiote, and not the host. Then again, the voice was a dead give away.

"Yes," she replied. "May I ask you a personal question?"

Having a fairly good idea of what that personal question was going to be, Daniel was hesitant to reply. "Uh... yeah, sure. Shoot."

Anise gave him a confused look, not understand the meaning of using 'shoot' in such contents, but continued with her question nonetheless. "I understand that you are not... involved with any certain person at this time?" she said.

Trying to hide his wince, Daniel nodded, "No... I'm not dating anybody."

"Well, I was just wondering if–"

"Daniel Jackson," another very formal, but extremely wanted, voice called out from down the hallway. Silently praising Teal'c for his absolutely wonderful timing, Daniel turned to face the direction the man's voice had come from.

"T!" he replied, "I thought you would be with Rya'c."

The Jaffa nodded, "Indeed I am, he and Kar'yn would like you to join us in the viewing of the Star Wars movies."

"What about Bra'tac?"

"He has seen Star Wars." Teal'c replied a bit mournfully. "He has gone to bed."

Daniel had to hold in his laughter, but as many times as he had seen Star Wars before (he had even seen the 6th movie, really the 3rd more than three times at the theater) he would watch each movie a thousand times again to get away from the Tok'ra woman about to ask him on a date. "Oh..." he replied, trying to sound casual. "Yeah, alright. I don't have anything better to do..." He turned to Anise, hoping she would get the hidden point. "You wanted to ask me something?"

She frowned, "It is not important. The Tok'ra are scheduled to leave shortly– I should go."

"Oh, alright..." he schooled his expression, so it wouldn't show how relieved he currently was. "Is Jacob going with you?"

"Yes," she replied with a half-nod, "but it is my understanding that he is returning in a week."

"Goodbye, Anise," Teal'c said, turning and walking down the hallway towards his quarters. Daniel said goodbye as well and followed after him, thinking of all the ways he would have to repay the man.

**XXXX**

The plane was beginning to touch down and a gentle snoring could still be heard in the cabin. After more than five minutes of trying to wake him up, she had still not succeeded, and it was starting to frustrate her. "Jack," she called out once more, as she shook his shoulder. "Wake up!"

He groaned and turned away from her.

"Fine, then I'll find some young, not asleep, guy to go to the Bahamas with me. No big deal."

Finally he sat up, sending her a dirty look, that she knew was less than half serious. "Just making sure I'm well energized," he told her, while stretching. "Tonight is our wedding night, you know."

She looked down at her swollen stomach, "Right... and we've never done _that_ before."

Shrugging, he responded, "Not as a married couple."

Smiling, she looked down at the wedding band, "Well, there's that."

The captain came over the speaker and told them to buckle their seatbelts, turn off all electronic devices, and prepare for the landing. Sam shut down her laptop, the only reason she had let him sleep on the flight at all, and waited for the plane to land.

"We've got three hours before our cruise ship starts boarding... what do you want to do until then?"

Sam shrugged, "I've never been to Miami before, I wouldn't have any idea as to what we could do..."

"I was thinking you'd want to shop or something..." Sam nearly laughed at the reluctance in his voice.

"The only thing I want to do is find somewhere to sit down and look at the ocean... shopping we can do in the Bahamas."

He groaned. "Alright... Are the twins still causing problems?"

She smiled lightly, "They're really moving today..."

"I'm sorry, babe," he told her, resting his hand on her stomach, hoping to sooth the twins by the touch. Sam looked over him and frowned, no such luck.

Sighing to herself, she laid her hand over her husbands, "I wonder how Pandora's doing..."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Sorry it took so long, and is such a short chapter! I've been very busy! Anyway... please review!**


	54. Chapter Fifty Four

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty Four**

**XXXX**

Five days later, Sam and Jack returned back to their house, happy to be home. They had, of course, enjoyed their honeymoon, but with the nature of their work, being away for any period of time left both feeling uneasy. Who knew what kind of trouble they had gotten into without them for a week? Especially Sam, Jack said, Lord only knew how Siler was dealing with any 'gate malfunctions there may be.

Nearly halfway through her pregnancy, Sam wasn't able to do most of the things she would have before. Her contact with alien devices was minimal, she had ceased going off-world, even on no-risk missions, and most of her time was spent in front of her laptop, running diagnostics and coming up with new programs to aide SG teams, but more than that, occupy her time. Aside from spending hours in front of her laptop, Samantha Carter-O'Neill could normally be found in one of three places, Daniel's office, Jack's office, or Teal'c's quarters.

For months after their wedding, Sam and Jack spent as much time together as they could. During the work, lunch breaks and before briefings, things of that nature. All the while, Sam's pregnancy, and the fact she was carrying twins, became more and more obvious. By her seventh month, she was at the size of a full-term pregnancy, and there was little she could do. It was a chore to sit in front of her laptop for more than an hour at a time, with interruptions coming in the form of kicks, hunger cravings, and nature calls.

After discussing things with her husband, they came to the conclusion that when she reached the point of seven and a half months, she would cease working. For the next two weeks, then, she would be tying up loose ends and preparing for being homebound. True, it meant less time with Jack, but it was getting to the point where her being at the SGC was becoming more of a hindrance than anything else.

They had finally agreed on the twins names. Their son would be Nathaniel Jacob, and their daughter's name would be Grace Lynne. A new bet had come into play over the months. This time, instead of the sex of the child, or in their case, children, it was which would be born first; the Nathan or Grace.

Sam's guess, which most agreed with, was that Grace would be the first born, and Nathaniel would follow after. Jack thought differently, but Sam wasn't sure if that was only for the sake of an argument, or if he was genuine in his protest. Daniel, Teal'c, her father and her brother and sister-in-law all agreed with her, but Cassie and General Hammond went with Jack's point of view.

From her last ultrasound they found that Nathan was already a bit bigger than his sister, only by an ounce, but the Doctor Murray informed them his growth would more likely than not be progressively greater than Grace's, to the point when at birth he may be a pound heavier. Jack had seemed proud about that fact, why Sam wasn't sure. All she understood was that her son was hogging up all the food.

"He's a boy, Sam," Jack had told her. "Of course he'll weigh more, males tend to be heavier than females."

At that point in time, the twins had been fighting or something, and the last thing she was doing was paying attention to anything he had to say. She had simply nodded, gritting her teeth through the pain, and leaning back against the sofa. "Jack, shut up and go make me a peanut butter and fluff sandwich."

He laughed, like he always did when she got cranky, and nodded. "Sure dear, would you like something to drink as well?"

After throwing him a dirty look, she replied with "water". He had left the living room for a few minutes, obviously making her sandwich, and returned with the snack. Most of their nights continued in that manner.

However, one night, a week away from her eighth month of pregnancy, Jack came home to find Sam asleep on the sofa. He sat down next to her, running a hand through her hair and calling out her name to wake her up, which she did after a few seconds. She explained, after sitting up on the couch, that she hadn't been feeling all that well that day. When she had woken, it was to the pain of the babies moving, something that hadn't been doing as much lately. She had done some walking, because her doctor had repeated over and over how important exercise was, but only lasted ten minutes before she had to retreat home. It was then, after her shower and breakfast, that she had sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV. According to her, she lasted no more than fifteen minutes before she had fallen asleep.

"Sam," he told her with a grin, "it's after 1800 hours... you've been asleep all this time?"

She colored and nodded sheepishly, "I guess so. I was a bit worn out."

His gaze flickered to the end of the couch, where Pandora lay, still snoring, "Looks like you weren't the only one."

Reaching over him, she ran her hands through the dogs silky hair, "'Dora..." she called out softly, "wake up puppy."

"She's hardly a puppy anymore, Sam," he reminded her.

"She'll always be my puppy, Jack," she replied, as the dog lifted her head to look at her master. "That's my girl, you wanna go outside?"

Pandora licked her hand in response.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sam said with a smile. "Come on girl," she continued, as she got off of the couch. "You coming with?" she questioned towards Jack. He nodded and followed her into the back yard. It was a bit chilly outside, but that was perfect weather for the Husky. As Pandora ran around the backyard, sniffing at the bare trees and marking her territory, Jack and Sam stood on the porch, his arms wrapped around her body, as she leaned up against him, sharing body heat.

The late February wind was stinging at her bare feet, and it wasn't long before both opted to go inside and let the dog enjoy the winter weather by herself. Pandora did mind, anyway, when she was ready to come back inside she would simply lay in front of the door, and one of her humans would notice and let her in.

While Sam went back into the living room to watch TV, Jack made his way into the kitchen to make something for dinner. He opened the fridge and peaked inside, "Sam, it's not the 24th yet, is it?"

"Nope," she called from the living room, "it's the 20th."

He nodded to himself and pulled the milk out of the fridge, along with a few eggs and some cheddar cheese. "Is eggs and toast alright with you?" he asked.

"That's fine." she told him, switching the to the TV guide channel to see what was on TV. "Hey, look, Macgyver is on."

As he got a frying pan from the cabinet, Jack made a face, "You like that show?"

"Sure. Why? You don't?"

"It was never that believable to me, I guess..." he said, shrugging his shoulders. "That, and I never thought Harrison Ford was that great at the character."

"You don't like Harrison Ford?"

"Sure I do. Probably not as much as Danny boy," he smiled, "or Teal'c, but he's a good actor. I just don't think that he was the right person for the part, is all." He got a bowl out, to scrabble the eggs in, and continued with making dinner. "What else is on?"

"Mmm," she replied, searching through the stations, "a bunch of reality TV shows, CSI, Lost, cartoons... Ooh, _The Mummy _is on sci-fi."

"Ack," Jack replied, "another one of Spacemonkey's heros."

She laughed and continued to search through the stations, "Oh... here's a good one, _A Few Good Men_ just started."

"Sounds good to me," he replied, glancing behind him when he heard a noise at the back door. Sure enough, Pandora was laying in front of the sliding glass door, ready to come back inside. He abandoned his eggs for a second to let her in, and she made a beeline to join Sam in the living room. "Don't think you're keeping that spot," he told her, as she cuddled up next to her owner. "I'm almost done with dinner."

Sam smiled and rubbed the dog's ears, as she settled down to watch the movie. As promised, a few minutes later Jack came into the living room, two plates in his hands, each with a good portion of eggs and two pieces of buttered toast. He went back into the kitchen, and came back out with some orange juice. "You do realize," she told him, as he forced the dog to scoot over, "that this is breakfast food."

He shrugged, "Who says you can't have breakfast for dinner?"

"Nobody, I guess..." she turned her attention to her dinner, and the movie, and they sat in silence for awhile. "He's got a very particular vocabulary, doesn't he?" Sam asked, as Colonel Jessep released another string of curses.

"He's a marine, baby," Jack replied with a shrug, as if that explained it all. Because, in his mind, it did.

Sam sighed and shook her head. No matter how good at their jobs the marines of the SGC were, Jack would never get over his opinion of the branch of service. But then again, with everything Makepeace had done, she didn't blame him altogether. In Jack's opinion, they were good soldiers, not so good people. That also might have to do with their cocky sense of behavior, though. Sam had yet to meet a marine who wasn't one hundred percent sure of himself. It was quite possibly their greatest downfall. As Demi Moore had said in the movie, marines were fanatical about being marines. And that was true no matter where they were stationed.

It was only half after 2000 hours when the movie went off, and even though she had been asleep almost the entire day, Sam was one again exhausted. "I guess it's because I'm getting so far into my pregnancy, and the fact I'm carrying twins," she told her husband, when he expressed his concern for her about the subject. "Besides," she continued with a shrug of her shoulders, "I'm home alone all day, what else am I going to do?"

Jack frowned, feeling badly that she was stuck homebound already, "Alright then," he told her, "I've got to wake up early in the morning anyway. I guess going to bed early isn't such a bad idea."

Sam smiled in triumph, struggling to get off of the couch, and ending up having to wait for Jack to help her. "This not being able to stand this is getting on my nerves," she groaned, as he helped her into their bedroom. "Not to mention the fact that it takes me an hour to shave my legs."

"It's winter, babe," he replied, "why do you need to shave your legs?"

"Oh yeah," she mumbled, "that's really attractive. 'Gee honey, you're legs are more prickly than my beard.'"

"Well, if it will make you feel better, I'll stop shaving and that won't be true."

She threw him a look and climbed into the bed, "I think I'll manage."

"Okay then," he replied, getting into bed, as well. In true O'Neill fashion, he ran a hand over one of her legs, and gasped, "Ooh... gee honey, you're legs are more prickly than my beard."

"That's not funny," she told him, swatting his shoulder not-so-playfully.

"I'm just joking," he replied, throwing his hands up in defense. "They're smoother than Hammond's head."

"That's great, Jack, just what I want my legs to be compared to. My once boss, and not to mention my father's best friend."

"Well, I couldn't say Teal'c's." he told her simply. "Then I'd really get smacked."

She rolled her eyes, and turned around in the bed, "Goodnight Jack." she said pointedly. "I love you."

"Love you, too," he replied, laying an arm over her large belly. "Sweet dreams."

**XXXX**

At first, when she woke up, she wasn't sure why. First glance around the room told her that it was still very much dark outside, then when she looked at the alarm clock to her right that was confirmed greatly. It was just after two in the morning. Her first guess was that the babies had given her a swift kick, and the jolt had waken her. But, that didn't hold up all that long, because the next thing she knew she was warm, wet, and fairly sticky.

Around the time that a string of curses, enough to make a sailor blush, flew from her mouth, her husband flew from their bed.

"Holy–"

"Crap," she mumbled, throwing the blankets off of the bed, and staring down at the wet sheets, "I think this means my water broke."

"What!" he demanded. "No. No that's not possible. You're not even eight months along yet." His look on his face was panicked and worry was clearly dancing in his eyes.

"It's alright," she told him, as she attempted to get out of bed. He saw her struggle and was immediately at her side, helping her up, and out of her wet clothes.

"I don't see how you having our babies more than a month early is a good thing, Samantha." he replied, as he grabbed her a pair of pants and a t-shirt to wear. "Right now, it's just terrifying."

"I never said it was a good thing, Jack," she told him. "I just said that it was alright. And it is."

"Exactly how is that?" he questioned, helping her into her shirt.

"Twins are normally a little early," she assured him, "it's normal."

He snorted, pulling a shirt over his head as well. "Do you have a bag or anything packed?"

She shook her head, "No... but when we get to the hospital, you can call Daniel and have him get me some things. But, we should probably get heading that way, huh?" She tried to smile, hoping it would make him feel better, but at the same time, a wave of pain shot through her stomach. "Ooh, buddy..." she sighed, "we should go."

"Okay... okay..." he said, looking around the room. "Shoes. We need shoes."

"Just grab flip-flops," she told him. "I won't be wearing them long."

"Right. Okay."

A few seconds later, they were heading out of the bedroom, and he was grabbing his keys and wallet from the counter. Soon after that, they were in his truck, speeding down the road towards the hospital. It was 0220 hours. "Guess it's a good thing we went to bed early," she said with a small grin.

He reached out with one of his hands and grasped hers, "Yeah."

For the rest of the way, the cab was silent. His hand never left hers, and his eyes never left the road. He was determined to get there as fast as possible, and in his defense, he did cut the time by five minutes. They entered the ER at 0230, and informed the woman at the desk that her water had broken, and she was only around thirty one weeks along. The clerk assured them that all would be well, and paged the OBGYN doctor on staff. Within minutes a tall, thin woman wearing a white lab-like coat met them, pushing a wheel chair for Sam. "I'm doctor Monroe," she told them. "How long ago did your water break?"

"About twenty minutes," Sam replied, "give or take five minutes."

She nodded, "And you're how far along?"

"Almost eight months."

"Twins?"

Sam nodded.

"He's the father?" Monroe questioned, glancing over at Jack.

Feeling a bit territorial, Jack answered, "Yes, I'm the father– her _husband_."

"Of course," she replied. "I was simply making sure." She helped Sam into the chair, and Jack took over to push it as she led them to the delivery wing of the hospital.

"We're going to get her ready now," Dr. Monroe told Jack as they entered her hospital room. "Around now is the time when most father's call anybody that they want here, would you like to go do that?"

Weary of leaving her side for more than five minutes, he turned to his wife. Sam nodded, telling him it was alright to go.

"Call Daniel first," she told him, reminding him about her need for clothes. He nodded and headed out the door, "Tell him to feed Pandora."

Jack smiled as he left the room, shaking his head slightly. It figures, just like Sam to be worried about the dog while she was in labor. Hopefully though, Daniel wouldn't be in too much of a rush to forget to do what she asked.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Whew! Long chapter, yay! Babies on the way, double yay! Anyway, let me know (in other words, review!)  
Oh... and I don't have anything against the marines. My father is a marine, my grandfather was a marine, and I have a bunch of great-grandfathers who were marines... So, yeah, nothing but loves for marines.  
**


	55. The End!

**John Doe**

**Chapter Fifty Five**

**Authors Note: I might have said this before, but just in case– I'm stating for the record, I know very little about pregnancy and child birth. I'm only 16... that's just not something I worry about and research at this stage of my life. So... if I get something wrong (which I already have) just let me know, and I'll try and fix things.**

**XXXX**

He had to wait ten minutes after making his phone calls to go into the room where she was being taken care of. He had gotten a hold of Daniel, told him to drop by the house on his way to the hospital, pick up some clothes for Sam, and for Jack, himself, and feed the dog. He called Cassie, told her to come by in a few hours, because nothing interesting was going on at the moment. Then called George, although he was in D.C., just to let him know what was going on. When he called Teal'c at the base, he told him to try and make contact with the Tok'ra, and if necessary, physically drag Jacob away from whatever they had him doing so he would be there for his grandchildren's birth. Sam had told him that out of anyone (except for him, of course) her father was the only one she truly wanted to be there.

Daniel had flipped out, for the same reason Jack had, because she wasn't even eight months along and already in labor. Jack tried to calm him down, telling Daniel what a nurse had told him, it wasn't odd for a first time mother to deliver early, and it was definitely common for twins to be premature. There was nothing to worry about, the babies wouldn't miss out on any necessary development and would be completely healthy and normal.

The first one to arrive, was, of course, Daniel. Jack was with Sam when the call came, and he explained to the archeologist how to get to the room, and a few minutes later, he showed up. Hair messy, clothes unmatched, flip-flops for shoes, and a goofy look spread across his face. It reminded Jack of the Daniel Jackson he had met all those years ago– wide eyed and excited about what lay ahead. He had missed that side of him.

"Hey Danny boy," he greeted with a grin of his own. "You'd think they were your youngins being born today, from the looks of it."

He smiled sheepishly and pulled up a seat next to Sam, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," the woman replied. "The contractions are still 13 minutes apart, and I'm not even close to being fully dilated... so I've got a bit of a wait on my hands."

"Did they say how long they expected you to be in labor for?"

She shook her head, "It's up in the air, I guess. It could be a few hours, it could be more than a day... you never really know. First time deliveries, they said, normally last for awhile."

"Oh."

"They're gonna bring me a lot of fluids, they say that will hurry the process along." she shrugged. "If things don't speed up in a couple of hours, though, they're gonna have me make laps around the hospital."

"Sounds like fun." the archeologist said.

"I'd do sprints right now, if it would hurry things along." she snorted. "Miracle of birth, my right foot. I'm not even close to having them, and I'm already ready for whatever drugs they're willing to let me have."

Jack grinned, and was about to reply when his cell phone rang, he got it out and answered on the second ring. "O'Neill?"

"_O'Neill– I have contacted the Tok'ra." _Teal'c said.

"Oh?" he asked. "What's the news?"

"_Jacob Carter is currently on a mission, but has been sent for, and should return to earth within two hours time."_ he paused. _"How is Samantha O'Neill?"_

"She's fine, T. Just ready to have the twins..."

"_Indeed."_

"Well, you let me know when there are any developments on that, okay? And get here as soon as you can."

"_Indeed, I will, O'Neill."_

Jack hung up the phone and looked over at Sam, "He sends his love, and says he'll be here in a few hours. Oh, and don't have the babies until he does."

"He did _not_ say that." she stated.

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned his phone to vibrate– it was really early, and they were in a hospital– and put it back in his pocket. "That doesn't mean he wasn't _thinking_ it."

She snorted, leaning back in the bed, "I doubt I'll even be close when he gets here, anyway."

Jack was about to reply, when he was again interrupted. This time, however, it wasn't by a cell phone. A slight beeping went off, and Sam's face dropped. Daniel looked around confused, but as soon as the woman cried out in pain, he got a pretty good idea of what was going on. It had been thirteen minutes since her last contraction, so she was due for another– and this was it.

He watched as her hand found Jack's, and she grabbed on for dear life, squeezing it in a painful manner. When he looked up to gauge the reaction on Jack's face, all he could see was sympathy and concern, no pain or annoyance by being her human stress ball. He (Jack), pushed a lock of hair out of her face, and kissed her forehead, whispering words of comfort into her ear, which Daniel couldn't make out. It lasted for the better part of a minute, and when it was finally over, she rested against the bed once more, letting out a sigh of exhaustion, and closed her eyes, although the men knew full well she wasn't going to try to sleep.

"Why don't you go get some coffee," Jack suggested, looking over at him. "It'll be awhile in here, and you're gonna need a good dose of caffeine."

Daniel nodded, standing up from the chair he was in. "Is there anything that I could do for you guys?"

Looking over at Sam, whose eyes were still closed, he nodded. "Call her brother..." after finding a pen and something to write on, he handed Daniel the number. "Let him know what's going on, maybe he can find a quick flight over here and make it in time to see his niece and nephew born."

Nodding, Daniel left the room, and headed for the cafeteria. Even though he knew it was used as a way to get him out of the room, he was never one to pass up on a cup of coffee.

**XXXX**

Even though Jack had told her to go back to sleep, and for her credit she had tried, Cassie was too excited to stay at her house. As quietly as she could, she got dressed, praying she didn't wake up her roommates, and after throwing on a pair of old jeans and a baggy shirt she left the house and headed for the hospital.

A cute, brunette nurse (who didn't look too much older than she was, she noted) directed her to where she would find Sam's room at. Feigning not understanding, she asked the man if he could take a few minutes to show her himself. He smiled, and agreed. Who cared that he was a nurse– she decided, as he walked ahead of her towards the room– he had a great backside.

"Thank you so much," she said, as she stopped outside the door to Sam's room.

"Is your sister having a baby?" he questioned. Her trip certainly had nothing to do with her, and sister was the next logical choice.

Cassie smiled, shaking her head, "She's not related to me– she was my mother's best friend."

Picking up on the _was_, and the slight sadness that had passed through the pretty young girls eyes, Brad knew he had stuck his foot in his mouth. Now the trick was getting it out. "Boy or girl?" he questioned, hoping to steer the conversation in the other direction.

The girl smiled once more, thankfully, and replied, "Both, actually. She's having twins."

Just as he was about to tell her that he had a pair of twin sisters, an older man, mid-thirties, walked over to them and greeted the girl, "Cassie! What are you doing here? I thought Jack told you that you cold stay at home and sleep for a few more hours."

She smiled sheepishly, "I tried– but I couldn't. So I decided to just come right away..." she looked back at Brad and her smile turned to a grin, "I got kind of lost trying to find the room."

Having a pretty good idea that this was a lie, Daniel raised an eyebrow, in true Teal'c fashion, and smirked at her. "Well, we're the only ones here right now. T is waiting on Jacob to get here, and I just called Mark and his family. They're gonna get the next flight out of San Diego."

Cassie nodded, eyeing the coffee cup in Daniel's hand. Before the archeologist knew it, the young woman grabbed it, a bit disappointed to see it only half full, but still happy to have coffee anyway. She looked at Brad and smiled, "Thanks again for helping me out."

"No problem," he replied. "Congratulations to your friends."

When he left, Cassie turned to Daniel, "Why do you always have to spoil the fun?"

"Flirting with a _male nurse_ is your idea of fun?" Daniel asked, laughing to himself.

Scowling, Cassie took a large drink of the coffee she had stolen from him and walked into Sam's room, muttering something to herself about bitter archeologists who couldn't get a date with Reetu if he tried. Daniel shook his head and followed her, not even wondering how she could possibly know about that. The girl had her ways.

"That was my third cup of coffee, by the way," he added, causing her to turn around and glare at him. "I don't miss it all that much."

She took another sip none the less, and sat down in his old chair, leaving him to stand.

**XXXX**

_5:37 AM_

"Knock, knock!" a voice called out as the door to the hospital room opened. Sam didn't even have to think twice about who it belonged to before she was sitting up straight, grinning broadly.

"Dad!" she exclaimed happily, as he walked into the room, and headed over to where she was laying to give her a hug. "Happy Birthday."

He grinned, "Well, if I had known that you were going to give me two grand babies for my present then I'd have made plans to be here earlier."

She smiled, looking over at her husband, "Trust me, we didn't plan on this."

"But it's a welcomed surprise," Jack finished for her. "Happy 63, Jacob. You're presents will be delivered later on in the day... dirty diapers and amazingly strong lungs to wake you up at three in the morning."

The older man grinned, "I'll stay for a couple of days, get to know the rug rats, but I do have an important mission that I need to carry out after that."

Sam nodded understandingly, "Where's Teal'c at?"

"He said something about tradition and lollipops and balloons, I don't know."

Daniel laughed, "That's Teal'c for you."

"Hey, it's a welcome to the family party," Cassie claimed. "It's not like they'll ever be able to get away from us now."

The others nodded, they did have one big, slightly dysfunctional family, and it was about to get that much more big, and crazy.

And none of them would have it any other way.

_**The End!**_

**XXXX**

**A/N: Wait just a second before you yell at me for ending it like that– there is an epilogue to be had. I could never end it without having the babies born! And who knows, perhaps I will decided on a sequel. I don't know. I've still got to get started on When All Else Fail's part II.**

**But anyway, I know it took forever to get this out. I am so sorry! It's out now though... and let me know what you think, of course!**

**Sorry if that was a cheesy ending. I just do what my muse tells me to.**


	56. Epilogue

**John Doe**

**Epilogue**

**XXXX**

It had taken nearly twenty hours of labor, any many discussions on whether a cesarian suction would be the best thing to do, when the twins finally decided to make their presence known. There were screams of pain, lots of tears, and swearing on Sam's part, words of comfort, smiles of joy, and a fairly crushed hand for Jack's– but their first child was delivered beautiful, healthy, and female. Grace Lynne was born at 10:08 PM on the 21st of February. She was whisked away for cleaning before either one of her parents could really see what she looked like.

But, as Sam was coxed into another round of 'pop out the kid' as Jack had so lovingly referred to the birth process once. The General took her hand again, and she squeezed on it for dear life, leaning forward in the hospital bed, grunting as she pushed once more. A few dirty words slipped out of her mouth again, but it was as if she didn't notice, or care. A few minutes later there was another wail filling the air, and Jack grinned, because as they took Nathaniel Jacob to get cleaned, they handed him his first daughter.

She was incredibly small, the doctors said she only weighed three pounds, two and a half ounces. Her skin was still red, no surprise there, she had nearly no hair, but from the little she had, he knew she was going to take after her mother. Her eyes were a dark, piercing blue, that told him there was a good chance of a change in color. She was looking up at him with the same shock and awe dancing in her eyes that must have been in his. "Hello Gracie," he mumbled, as he took her hand to count her fingers and toes. All twenty were present, and amazingly small, and the strange look on his newborn daughter's face made him grin, "I'm Jack... you can call me daddy. But not pops, or anything like that," he told her. "Daddy will do fine."

Her lips curved slightly at the sound of his voice, and Jack was amazed that she had stopped crying. When had that happened?

A few seconds later, the nurse turned to them once more, holding a more vocal baby in her arms, "Mr and Mrs O'Neill," she told them with a wide grin, "meet your son." And she handed Nathaniel to Sam, who, although she had just gone through the processes of delivery twice, and once was enough to knock out Sara, sat up straight and wide-eyed, looking like she was ready to take on a nation of Jaffa. The tall, redheaded lady placed Nathan in her arms, and her expression softened, as she cooed to the boy, doing her best to make him feel comfortable enough to stop crying.

"Hush, little one," she murmured, "it's alright, Momma's here..."

Somehow that seemed to do the trick, because the wailing stopped. Sam looked over at her husband, shocked, but he only smiled and looked down at her daughter. She had fallen asleep in his arms. He watched her for a few minutes, giving Sam the opportunity to get to know their son, before they switched. And although Nathaniel was beginning to look as if he was going to do the same as his sister, Jack got a glimpse of bright blue eyes, much lighter than his sisters, and wisps of dark brown hair on his head.

Before either of them knew it, or even thought of it, they were surrounded by visitors. Sam 'shushed' them, since now both babies were asleep, and turned back to her daughter, wrapping her in the blanket the nurse had provided. Jack was doing the same, praying Nathaniel wouldn't wake up and begin crying again. He stood up from his chair, rocking the baby gently, and looked over at his father and law, then back at his wife.

"Dad," she said with a huge, amazing grin, "meet your grandson, Nathaniel Jacob O'Neill."

The man's face was priceless, a mixture of shock and honor passed through his eyes, as Jack placed his namesake in his arms. "You're serious?" he asked, looking between the happy parents, who nodded back at him, smiles growing as his appeared on his face. "That means... _everything_ to me."

"Hopefully he'll learn a thing or two from his grandfather," Jack announced, placing a hand on the man's shoulders. "More than he learns from his father, that is."

At the same time, Sam was beckoning Cassie over to the bed she was lying in, and told her to sit down on it, so she could meet her god-daughter. Daniel and Teal'c were all crowded around Jacob and Jack, and Hammond– who she had no idea was even there– was lugging in huge masses of balloons and gift boxes, and the likes. With the help of many nurses, of course. "Cassandra," she said with a smile, "meet Grace Lynne." She was reluctant to let her daughter go so soon after meeting her, but it was only temporary, and Cassie needed this more than she did. Sam's biggest hope for the girl was that being so closely connected with Grace and Nathan would help her move on from the still recent death of her mother. Give her something new to focus her time on.

"She's beautiful," the younger girl breathed. "Perfect."

Sam nodded in agreement, "I think she looks like her father."

"It's a little soon to tell, don't you think?" the college student asked.

"Not when you've seen Jack's baby pictures. She really resembles him."

"What about Nathan?"

"I think he's pretty much a mixture of both of us, but probably more of my features than Jack's. He's got my eyes, I can tell you that much right now. He'll look very much like his grandfather, I'm sure."

"But not his grandmother?"

Sam shook her head, "No, my mother was beautiful, but she was shorter, thin, her hair was deep brown, almost black, and her eyes were the only thing I managed to inherent from her." She smiled and reached out, running her fingers across her daughters nearly bald head. "Can you believe I'm a mother now?"

"And I'm a god-mother."

"More of an aunt," she told her with a smile, "at least, that's what I'll have them call you... if it's alright with you of course."

Before Cassie could reply, there was the sound of somebody clearing their throat and all eyes turned to the head of the room, where the young girl's connected with Brad's. The cute nurse from earlier in the morning. "Sorry to interrupt," he told them, "but there's no way all of your flowers are going to fit in here, ma'am. What would you like us to do with them?"

Sam smiled, "Bring them to other patients," she said, "I don't really need them, but I would like the cards."

"Of course," he replied, smiling at Cassie before leaving the room. Daniel and the girl shared a knowing look, but they went right back to meeting their new family members, too wrapped up in the tiny bundles to care about anything else.

"Time to switch!" Jack called out, looking over at Sam with a lopsided grin. "I want Gracie to meet everyone, too, so she know's just how hard it's go on a date."

"That's at least fifteen years away Jack."

"_Thirty_." he replied, no traces of a joke in his voice.

Sam didn't even try and argue, there was no sense, they were just born ten minutes ago! "Whatever," she said with a smile, as Cassie handed Grace to Daniel, and Hammond handed Nathan to Cassie. The little boy opened his eyes briefly at the movement, but shut them again, far too tired to cry. Being born was hard work, after all.

**XXXX**

_Three months later:_

Sam woke up that morning, surprised to see light streaming in through the windows. Normally, she was waken to wails, and it was still pitch black outside, but that hadn't happened that day. Confused, she slipped out of bed, and quietly made her way through the house. If the twins were still asleep, then she definitely wasn't going to wake them. "Jack?" she called out, her voice barely above a whisper.

"In the kitchen!" he replied, not trying to be silent at all. She winced and waited for the first cry of attention, but heard none. This was strange...

"What's going on?" she asked, as she walked into the kitchen, to see him cooking breakfast.

"You're supposed to be asleep still, you know?"

"Jack," she said, having a feeling what this was about, "Mother's Day was yesterday," she reminded him, "today is Monday, the–"

He turned around and grinned, "Today is Monday, _your birthday_."

"I forgot..." she admitted, a sheepish smile playing at her lips, and her cheeks turning rosy.

"I thought you would." he replied, shutting off the oven and placing the bacon on a napkin. "Ok, so breakfast is now done."

"Where are the twins, Jack?"

"Jacob and Daniel took them out, trip to the park, then Daniel's for a nap and then they're coming right back here." Sam hadn't gone long without seeing them yet, she had just returned to work in mid-April, was still on light duty, and only working half days.

"So we've got the morning to ourselves?" she asked, a surprising grin creeping to her face.

"Yeah," he replied, "so I thought we'd have a nice–"

"Our first morning alone, without the twins, and you want to eat pancakes?" she asked, the grin growing larger.

"Well, what else–" he finally realized what she was implying, "Oh... Oh! I think I like your idea much better."

"I thought you would," she replied, bringing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss.

**XXXX**

_Two months later_

General O'Neill stood in the control room, watching his watch with anticipation. They had five minutes to get back before he was sending SG-3 and 5 after them. And the Marines weren't very nice about going on rescue missions and finding a bunch of science nerds poking around in the dirt. Just as he was about to have Walter page the teams, the 'gate activated, and the shimmering blue liquid whoosed forward.

"It's SG-1, sir," Walter informed him, and after telling him to open the iris, Jack took off for the embarkation room. He greeted the three maned team with a wide grin, mostly because his wife was smiling sheepishly at him.

"You're late, Colonel Carter."

"Yes, sir," she replied, "sorry, sir."

"What happened?"

"Um... that's my fault, Jack..." Daniel confessed, "I got kind of caught up in the ruins..."

Yup, playing in the dirt, it was.

"Go to the infirmary and get checked up, briefing is at 1400 hours." Daniel and Teal'c walked off, but Sam stayed behind, and she and Jack left together. "So," he asked, "how was it?" It had been her first mission back, and even though SG-6 had gone to the planet three times before, he'd still been scared out of his mind. Not that he'd ever admit such.

"It was good. Daniel learned a lot. I took some samples."

"Good."

"How are the twins?" she'd been gone for a full twenty-four hours, and three minutes, and that was the longest she'd ever been away from them– not to mention thousands of light years away, of course.

"They're fine. Hanging out in the infirmary with all the nurses. You'd swear they'd never seen babies before."

"Well, a lot of them don't see kids that young often, Jack– mostly it's Daniel and Siler waltzing through there that need taking care of, not twin babies."

"Yeah, I guess. You wanna go see them? Nathan's learned to make spit bubbles."

"Oh joy. I wonder who taught him that..."

Grinning, Jack turned the corridor, taking his wife's hand in his own, "I bet it was Teal'c."

**XXXX**

**A/N:** **So that's the epilogue. Story's officially over. I'm still thinking about the sequel thing, but if I do, it won't be anywhere near fifty-six chapters! And yeah, my next project is the sequel to When All Else Fails. Hopefully that'll be out soon. Let me know what you thought of it.**


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